Hagaren Country
by watercircle
Summary: TCxFMA Ed and Al get word of a powerful alchemy amplifier in the shape of a feather. Could this finally be their salvation? Meanwhile, the Tsubasa gang appears in Amestris to search for Sakura’s lost memory fragment... Slight FMA timewarp.
1. Code Name Pandora

**Hagaren Country**

Tentative In-Depth Summary: Only weeks after spending one horrible night inside the Fifth Laboratory, Ed is commissioned by the military to investigate growing rumors of a powerful alchemy amplifier. The amplifier is said to take the shape of a white feather and has a limitless energy supply that seems to defy the laws of Equivalent Exchange. To Ed and Al, it sounds like an excellent alternative to the bloodied and unstable Philosopher's Stone. However, Ed's assignment also includes assisting a group of four travelers and their chimera(?) who say they're looking for a feather too. Ed and Syaoran both have something very precious to regain, while Sakura and Al are both going through major identity crises. Will they all find companionship, or simply clash over who needs the feather more? Rated for Ed's tendency to say whatever the hell he damn well pleases.

Quick note on spoilers: Proceed at your own risk! With both FMA and TC, I'm sticking to their respective animes. Concerning the time-line of FMA, this fic is happening right after episode 24 (a few weeks have passed since the events in the Fifth Laboratory). As for TC, everything has happened to the gang up through the first season. However, I reserve the right to reveal the story-line as I go, if you're not totally up-to-date with either anime, proceed with caution.

A note about names: I will be using the spelling "Fay" throughout this fic for our favorite white-haired magician. This is the spelling used in the official Tsubasa Reservior Chronicle Character Guide Vol 1, so that's what I'm sticking with. Also, any other names or places will be pulled directly from official sources wherever possible. I've also chosen to use Ed's translated English title of "Fullmetal" instead of "Haganeno" because… well, it's easier to type. ;P

* * *

Disclaimer: FMA belongs to creator Hiromu Arakawa and related companies. TC belongs to CLAMP and related companies. I do not claim rights to any of these characters or locations. Please just let me write my fics... T.T

* * *

**Chaptire.I  
Code Name Pandora**

In the middle of the desert, the sky began to fall. It dipped downward onto the sand like a glob of molasses from a wooden spoon. When the convection finally dipped onto the ground, it exploded outward, abandoning four people amidst the barren landscape.

"Hmm... nothing to greet us? No signs? No dancing women?" Kurogane huffed as the group got their first look at the new world. He flung his black cape over his shoulder in an effort to get more air.

"Disappointed about the lack of girls, eh?" Fay said, sliding up and poking Kurogane in the ribs with his elbow.

"That is _NOT_ what I meant!" Kurogane said between gritted teeth. His hands tightened on his sword and Fay took a few pseudo-frightened steps backward.

"It does seem different, though, doesn't it?" Syaoran said, looking around. "It's probably a place that doesn't get very many travelers like us..."

In the distance, a wavering mass of black could be seen on the horizon. The spires and buildings of some kind of town could just be made out through the thick curtain of haze in the blistering air.

"It kind of reminds me of Clow..." Syaoran said. He turned to Sakura. "Doesn't it, Princess?"

"I suppose..." Sakura said, staring mostly into the sky. She looked to Syaoran and smiled nervously. "My memories of home are still a little hazy."

"Hopefully there's a feather here to help you with that, Sakura-chan," Fay said, his ever-present smile forcing his eyes shut. He turned his head to the little white blob on his shoulder. "Sense anything yet, Mokona?"

"Mokona doesn't sense much..." Mokona said, bobbing to an unheard rhythm. "But a strange feeling is in the air. Not like magic, but something almost the same."

"Hmm..." Fay said thoughtfully. "I only know of one thing that is almost the same as magic."

Syaoran blinked. "What could possibly be on the same level as magic?"

Fay's ever-present grin pressed wider.

"Science."

* * *

Mustang held up the report to the sunlight as if it were a precious gem he was inspecting for clarity. "So there's word of a new type of alchemic amplifier, huh? One that looks like a white feather?"

"That's what I wrote," Ed said, sulking in the seat next to the colonel's desk with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "I don't really need it repeated back to me, you know. Just a simple yes or no will do."

"Indeed, the information could prove very useful to the military," Mustang said, still holding up the report, but propping his head on his hand. "However, this isn't a case concerning the Philosopher's Stone. If you remember correctly, I only agreed to allow you to independently research information with regard the Stone itself, not amplifiers in general."

Ed slammed a fist down on Mustang's desk. "Don't try to get me with your technical bullshit. We need this lead and you know it. Now just give me the authorization so we can get out here for a few months. I know you need the break just as much as I do."

"Sorry Fullmetal," Mustang said, a smug grin breaking out on his face. "It'll look suspicious if I let you go off on a wild goose chase after what seems like just a silly rumor. Why don't you wait around for a better opportunity to present itself? One is bound to show up soon."

"No, it's going to completely disappear!" Ed exclaimed, pointing wildly at a rough sketch of the "amplifier" on Mustang's desk.

It was a delicate white feather with pink curvature marks running down the shaft — totally symmetrical on both sides — that created an abstract heart-like shape. Ed theorized that the marks were some kind of ancient transmutation circle. He had spent two and a half weeks pouring over research books and tracking down witnesses to put together a proposal for the colonel... And now Mustang was only going to refuse him.

It all seemed like a horrible waste of time.

"I don't know why I even bother," Ed said, walking toward the door. He paused on the handle, his next words dripping with threat. "I'm going to hunt for that amplifier no matter what. If the military won't fund my research, I'll just take a leave of absence and go on my own as a civilian."

"Hopefully it won't have to come to that," Mustang said, putting his folded hands under his chin. "I'll keep in touch. Don't leave without notifying me first."

Ed snorted with irritated amusement. "You'd be the last one to know about anything I do."

Hawkeye was just coming in as Ed stalked out the door.

"Good morning, Edward-kun," she said stiffly. "How did the proposal go?"

Ed waved his hand in the air. "As expected."

"Better luck next time, then," Hawkeye said.

"Yeah, right," Ed grumbled, slinking down the hallway and muttering incoherent swears.

Hawkeye turned her attention on Mustang. "Colonel, those people are waiting in the lobby. Should I show them in?"

"Yes," Mustang said, picking up the sketch of the feather and examining it closely. "Please do."

* * *

"Just how did we end up here again?" Kurogane asked, watching military personnel walk busily back and forth with narrowed eyes.

It was a very noisy place. Rings, beeps, and loud shouts filled the small space. Syaoran, Sakura, Fay, and Kurogane were sitting in a small nook near the receptionist's desk on a couple of worn-looking couches. Mokona had taken a seat on the coffee table and was getting many strange looks as he swayed and hummed to himself.

"This is what we get for asking around," Fay said, grinning. "These people seemed very interested in our quest for a white feather."

"Too bad the civilians couldn't tell us anything," Syaoran said, watching the people with almost as much suspicion as Kurogane. "All they could say was that the military was investigating the feather. They seemed pretty clueless."

"And surprised to see Mokona," Mokona said eagerly. "Everyone is like 'Gah, what is _that_?' and 'What kind of depraved transmutation did you use to make that thing?'"

"Obviously people aren't very used to talking pork buns in this dimension," Kurogane said shortly.

"They weren't very used to Kurogane either," Mokona said nonchalantly. "'What's wrong with his eyes?' they said. 'Is he from Ishbal?'"

Kurogane went to wrap his hands around Mokona when the blond woman who had greeted them initially came back into the room.

"Colonel Mustang will see you now," she said, her tone formal and her posture was very business-like.

"Thank you very much..." Fay trailed off, searching for the woman's name.

"Hawkeye," the woman said. "Lieutenant Hawkeye. Please follow me."

"Kurogane-san, please stay here with the princess," Syaoran said as he got up to follow Lieutenant Hawkeye.

"Fine," Kurogane said, crossing his arms and slumping further in his seat. "I don't get this dimension, anyway."

"Mokona," Fay said over his shoulder to where the white ball sat on the waiting room's coffee table. "We may need you."

"Of course you'll need Mokona!" Mokona said, hopping lightly onto Syaoran's shoulder.

"We'll be right back, okay princess?" Syaoran said.

Sakura nodded sluggishly. "Hurry back."

Syaoran and Fay followed Hawkeye down the long hallway toward the door at the end. The woman walked briskly and several feet ahead.

"It's very kind of the colonel to see us on such short notice," Fay said to the back of the blond woman's head. "I hope it's not a bother."

"This is very sensitive information," Hawkeye said seriously, her voice monotone and striking sharply above the din in the hallway. "It is a top priority for the colonel because it concerns something very important to him."

"I see..." Fay said. He leaned close to Syaoran and whispered, "It's the same everywhere we go. Sakura's feathers are always important to someone."

Syaoran nodded and kept his voice at a whisper as well. "To evil people, mostly. I don't think we can trust this... Mustang."

"I was thinking the same thing," Fay said, grinning. "We'll keep what we can to ourselves."

Hawkeye opened the door to the colonel's office.

"Sir, they're here," she said, showing Syaoran and Fay in.

"Good afternoon," Mustang said, getting up. "I am Colonel Roy Mustang. Please take a seat."

"Good afternoon, Colonel Mustang," Fay said as he and Syaoran sat down in front of Mustang's desk. "My name is Fay D Flourite and this is Syaoran."

"Hello Colonel Mustang-san," Syaoran said, bowing politely.

Once the two were seated, Mustang sat as well and pulled his seat close to the desk so he sat straight.

"Down to business if you don't mind," Mustang said, folding his hands lightly on the desk.

"Of course not," Fay said, smiling. "Although I am rather skilled at pleasantries."

Mustang looked at the two for a moment, his eyes bouncing between Syaoran and Fay. "I thought there were five of you."

Fay smiled. "One of our members is feeling a bit under the weather, so she stayed behind. Our other companion is keeping her company."

"And that makes four. Where's the fifth?" Mustang asked.

"Ah, he's right here," Fay said, pointing to Mokona in his lap.

"Hello!" Mokona said boisterously. "I am Mokona Modoki! Nice to meet you!"

Mustang's eyes widened, but he retained his composure. He leaned a bit closer. "A talking chimera?"

"Not a chimera!" Mokona exclaimed. "Mokona is Mokona!"

"By 'chimera' you mean a created creature, correct?" Fay asked.

"Yes, that's one definition," Mustang said.

"Then Mokona does fit that description," Fay said, ignoring the look of indignation on Mokona's face. "We purchased him from a woman named Yuuko some time ago."

"Such a perfect transmutation would have been extremely difficult." Mustang said, still marveling at the creature. "He must have cost you quite a bit."

"More than you could possibly imagine," Fay said mysteriously. "But he's the reason we're here."

"To a search for a white feather with a mysterious power, correct?" Mustang said, putting his hands under his chin.

"Precisely," Fay said with a sweep of his arm. "Mokona here can sense the feather's presence. We use him as a sort of... homing device."

"When Mokona senses a feather nearby..." Mokona said, his huge purple eyes suddenly bursting onto his face. "My eyes go MEKYO like that."

"I... see," Mustang said, even more surprised. "Then you've seen this feather before. Around here it's nothing more than an... urban legend, if you will."

"They do exist," Syaoran said firmly, finally speaking up. Until then he'd been content to simply observe the colonel's character in silence. "We've seen them before several times."

Mustang lowered his gaze. "You mean there's more than one?"

"Yes, sir," Fay said, his grin getting wider. "However, their placement is extremely sporadic and random. The chance that there is more than one in this general vicinity is highly unlikely."

"So you have been in contact with the feathers," Mustang said, acting like he was reading a novel that had just gotten really good. "What do you do when you have one in your possession?"

Syaoran went to answer, but Fay cut him off.

"We disarm them," Fay said, talking as if he hadn't just come up with the phrase on the fly. "The feathers are very dangerous, colonel. We've made it our solemn duty to find these feathers — all of them — and render them harmless."

Mustang made a sound that was much like sighing, but less desperate. "You don't have to tell me that this amplifier is dangerous. The stories of the feather are considered myth simply because the existence of something that powerful is so difficult to believe. If there's even the smallest chance that this thing actually exists... it becomes a major liability for those who are supposed to keep the peace."

"Not to mention that the military would be very interested in a powerful energy source such as this, correct?" Fay asked, looking innocent with his hands on his knees.

Mustang shut his eyes and smiled slyly. "Of course. However, the safety of the people _always_ comes first."

"Of course," Fay said, his own one-of-a-kind grin breaking on his face.

Syaoran understood the reason for the uncomfortable silence. The military was after Sakura's feather, that much was clear. A source of power like the feather would undoubtedly be very useful for a military organization. However, although they probably had _some_ data on where the feather is located, having Makona's homing ability would be very helpful to find its exact location. On the other hand, Syaoran needed the military's information on the whereabouts of the feather to find a place to start looking. After all, this world seemed very vast and Mokona wasn't sensing anything in the area. The two groups needed each other to get to the prize that only one could obtain. So it was a stalemate.

"It is in the military's best interest..." Mustang said slowly, his smile not weakening a bit. "That this feather be destroyed—"

"Disarmed," Fay interjected politely.

Mustang slowly nodded once. "Disarmed, then. However, it is certainly _not_ in our best interest to let a group of people out on their own with our records, tracking a dangerous item that requires documentation and observation."

"That's understandable," Fay said. He looked pleased with the direction the conversation was heading.

Syaoran, however, wasn't all that confident. His dislike of the colonel was slowly growing the longer that smug smirk lingered on his lips.

Mustang leaned back in his chair and folded his hands on his stomach. "I'm willing to provide you with a military escort, if you will accept. He is a highly skilled officer who has an extensive knowledge of the area and has researched the existence of the feather for some time. If anyone has the best idea of where the feather is, it's him."

Fay inclined his head. "I think I speak on behalf of the group when I say that I humbly accept your generous offer."

Syaoran looked at Fay with his mouth hanging open. A military escort? Someone to scrutinize their every move and report it back to headquarters? This was ridiculous! How would they get anything done? And more importantly, how would they keep the feather for Sakura once they got it?

But Fay, as if reading Syaoran's mind, elbowed him discreetly in the ribs and flashed a confident smile.

"Excellent," Mustang said, getting up from his seat. He reached for Fay's hand again and shook it firmly. "I'll make arrangements immediately. In the meantime, you're welcome to stay in the dormitories until preparations are completed, which should be no later than early tomorrow morning. Please take a seat outside and I'll send someone to show you to a room."

"That's very gracious of you, Colonel Mustang sir," Fay said, smiling cheerfully. He headed for the door with Mokona in his arms.

"Ah, I must make mention of one more thing," Mustang said, leaning on his desk and glancing at Mokona. "The creation, or indeed the mere possession, of a chimera is strictly prohibited by federal law. If one is found in the possession of such a creature, I am obligated to confiscate it and jail the offending party. The trail process is lengthy and sentencing is strict. I doubt any of your group could get out with under five years in prison."

Syaoran glared at Mustang as the officer took his seat. "Of course, that's only if I were to come across a chimera, you understand. I simply thought the information would be useful to you, seeing as how that stuffed animal could easily be mistaken for an illegal creature."

Fay was smiling as deeply as Syaoran was glaring. Mokona had become oddly quiet and lifeless. "Thank you, Colonel. Should we ever come into the possession of a chimera, we will certainly take this information in stride."

"Very good," Mustang said, his serious expression somehow out of place in the situation. "Someone will come for your group shortly."

Fay gave a short bow and opened the door, holding it open for Syaoran. He stepped through it, but not before taking another long look at Mustang before he left.

"I knew we couldn't trust him," Syaoran said the moment they were out of earshot.

"Ah, but the colonel seems like a good person," Fay said.

"A good person?" Syaoran asked, taken aback. "He's blackmailing us with Mokona. And he really wants Sakura's feather."

Fay shook his head. "If he really wanted to, he could put us all in jail and take Mokona for himself and his team. However, he's leaving it to us to lead the way to Sakura's feather. I believe he trusts us to an extent. The blackmailing part was just a safety measure to assure that we stay as loyal to the military's orders as possible."

"I still don't like him," Syaoran said seriously.

* * *

"I hate that damn Mustang."

"He's right, though, Nii-san," an echoing voice said from beneath a huge suit of armor. "You can't go running off after every rumor that pops up. It'll look suspicious. You're only putting in the absolute minimum hours of active duty as it is."

"I don't care about what the rest of these people think about me, Al," Ed said. He flopped onto the small couch in the middle of the tiny dormitory room. "All that matters is getting your body back. A few disgruntled coworkers is the least of my problems."

"But what if it is just a rumor?" Al asked, clomping over to look at the picture of the feather on the coffee table. "I mean, what if we just end up chasing after something that just leads us to a dead end?"

From the couch, Ed shook his head. "No. It's very real. Besides, it was Halling who first told me about it. Are you about to call Halling and Kyle liars?"

"No, of course not," Al said quickly and holding up his giant metal hands. "It's just really scary to think that kind of power is just out there, drifting around. I'd kind of rather it not be true..."

"Yeah. I know what you mean," Ed said, pulling his arms up under his head. He carefully positioned his right arm under his left so his head wasn't resting on metal. "But there's no evidence to suggest that this power source comes from the same one that's used to make the Philosopher's Stone."

The memory of what the two had seen in Fifth Laboratory was still fresh in their minds as they lapsed into silence. It was a few minutes before Ed spoke up again.

"This is different, Al," Ed said, sitting up on the couch. "They say that the feather just fell from the sky one day. It's like it was..."

"A gift from God," Al finished the thought.

"Yeah, sure," Ed said, waving his hand dismissively. "Well, whatever it is, it is _not_ the Philosopher's Stone. And that's enough to chase after it, don't you think?"

Although the sheet of metal that made up Al's face was completely expressionless, he was able to somehow force life into it. A smile appeared behind the mask where the eyes were.

"I'll follow you wherever you go, Nii-san."

Ed grinned widely. "Then we'll leave tomorrow, with or without the Great Mustang's permission." His face turned thoughtful. "Maybe I should go down to Records right now and pick up a Leave Request form..."

"That won't be necessary, Fullmetal," a voice came from the doorway.

"Eh?" Ed muttered. He turned toward the door with his face screwed up in confusion.

Mustang stood in the doorway, one arm supporting his weight against the frame as he leaned into the room. A particularly smug grin was dancing in his eyes. It was the distinct expression the Colonel wore when he was about to give Ed hell.

"What are you doing here?" Ed asked, not bothering to even get off the couch. Al, however, got out of his seat and bowed politely. "All the cadets around here won't know what to do with themselves. Colonels should not randomly show up in this part of the dorm block without good reason. You're going to give everyone a heart attack."

"I only wanted to deliver this to you personally," Mustang said, holding out an manila envelope with the military's official seal embossed on the front.

Ed eyed the envelope darkly from the couch. He could almost feel the evil wafting from it. "What is it?"

"Your latest mission," Mustang said, "It seems you're going to have to put that leave on hold, Fullmetal. You have orders."

"WHAT?" Ed yelled, jumping off the couch and snatching the envelope from Mustang's grasp. He tore the paper down the seam on the back all the while giving Mustang a death stare. "I haven't received a direct mission from headquarters in over two months. You did this on purpose so I can't leave!"

"You are expected to report for briefing at 0600 tomorrow morning in my office," Mustang said, turning to leave. "Failure to do so will be considered desertion. Understood?"

Ed bristled as Mustang walked away with a smirk on his face. Ed opened his mouth several times in an attempt to say something, but he couldn't make any sound beyond a few stuttering growls. Eventually he gave one last frustrated grunt and slammed the door shut. The windows rattled under the shock wave.

"What are your orders, Nii-san?" Al asked, coming up behind Ed to peer over his shoulder.

Ed shoved turned around and shoved the papers into Al's huge metal arms and sulked back to the couch.

"Does it really matter? This just means that we can go looking for that amplifier," Ed said, sinking into the cushions. "Damn that Mustang. It's probably some annoying grunt mission too. Maybe I'll have to clean all the toilets on this floor..." Ed moaned. "That'll take weeks!"

"'Class B Mission'," Al said, reading off the papers in his hands. "'Operation: Pandora's Wingtip.'"

"Eh?" Ed mumbled. That didn't sound like a grunt mission at all. Class B was a search and delivery designation.

"'Objective One: Verify and document the existence or nonexistence of alleged alchemy amplifier hereafter referred to as _the item_'," Al paused. "The Colonel wants us to find the amplifier, Nii-san!"

Ed sat up on the couch. "Go on."

"'Objective Two: In the event that existence is verified, take all measures necessary to secure the item and present it into military custody for further examination.'"

"But not before we use it first," Ed said, grinning darkly. "The amplifier has a limitless energy supply! We could use it and no one would be the wiser."

Ed paused, thinking deeply. Could Mustang have come through for once? This seemed almost too easy.

"'Objective Three: Ensure the safety and well-being of accompanying civilians as long as they remain cooperative—'"

"An _escort_ mission?" Ed said, jumping off the couch and grabbing the pages from Al's hands. "What the hell is this?"

"'Use the information provided by the civilians to produce the location of the item,'" Al said, reading over Ed's shoulder. "I guess these people have some idea where the amplifier is."

"But then why do they have to come _with_ us?" Ed said, glaring at the papers. "The military definitely wouldn't want civilians tagging along on a Class B mission. Something about this is really strange..."

"'Objective Four: Take whatever measures necessary to prevent the accompanying civilians from gaining access to the item in the event that existence and location is verified. Should this objective prove unsuccessful, the entire operation will be considered null and labeled Failed. Please advise.'"

Al, cocked his head, the metal of his helmet clanging hollowly. "Labeled 'Failed'? What does that mean?"

"It means that I could be dishonorably discharged if I can't successfully complete Objective Four," Ed said, the papers crumpling under his grip. "At the very least I'd have that Failed on my permanent record and the military would never assign me to a mission above Class F. I really would be scrubbing toilets then— for the rest of my career."

"But still, this is what we wanted," Al said. "It's a chance to hunt for the amplifier without making anyone suspicious."

Ed brightened. "Right! And who says I'll fail my mission? That Mustang has another thing coming if he's trying to get me expelled from the military. If anything, I'm going to get a medal out of this!

"And besides," Ed said, turning to Al with a very serious expression. "My status in the military doesn't mean squat beside getting your body back, Al. I'll do whatever it takes. If this amplifier is really all they say it is... We'll be whole again in no time."

* * *

End Note: Yeah... I'm not _exactly_ sure where this is going, but I'm sure the plot line will work itself out as I write. I like the set-up too, if I may say so myself. This isn't going to be your usual "we've all just met and now we're going to be best friends and work together toward a common goal" crossover. So far there are three different groups that want Sakura's feather (with a fourth probably on the way), which will make for some definite factional rivalry. This will probably prove very interesting. However, I won't bother writing another chapter if no one likes the idea as much as I do. So to motivate me, I'll need lots of support. (Yes... this is my way of saying review or no update!) ; I just want to know if anyone out there is interested... Am I the only one out there obsessed with FMA _and_ TC? Say it ain't so!! T.T 


	2. A Different Kind of Freedom

**Chaptire.II  
A Different Kind of Freedom**

"YOU _WHAT_?"

"I agreed to the military escort," Fay said again, his back to Kurogane as he smoothed out the sheets on his cot. "Do you think I could get warm milk from somewhere? I have a hard time sleeping on these little beds."

"Don't try to change the subject!" Kurogane thundered. He turned to Syaoran with a snap of his neck and gripped his sword hilt until his knuckles turned white. "How could you just _let_ him do a stupid thing like that?"

Syaoran threw up his hands in defense as little beads of sweat pooled on his forehead. "I didn't..."

"I can be very persuasive," Fay said, testing the firmness of the cot by bouncing lightly on the edge. He grimaced a bit. "Sheesh, this thing is like mush. What's your bed like, Sakura-chan?"

"Um, it's..." Sakura started from where she sat on the other cot across the tiny room. But Kurogane was already talking again.

"So why didn't you use some of your persuasiveness to get us _out_ of the escort?" Kurogane asked through gritted teeth.

Fay got up, walked to the other side of the room, and flopped down beside Sakura on the cot without even so much as a glance in Kurogane's direction. "Nope. This one's all smushy too. I don't suppose we could ask for another couple of beds, could we? Maybe ones that haven't been used so much..."

"This isn't a goddamned hotel, you moron," Kurogane said, following Fay with his eyes as the blond man crossed the room again. "Do you even know where we are?"

"Nope," Fay said, grinning as he sat back down on his cot. "Do you?"

"This is a military base!" Kurogane roared.

"Right," Fay said with a nod. "But where?"

"How am I supposed to know _that_?" Kurogane said, sinking into a chair and smacking a hand to his face. "We just got here!"

"Exactly," Fay said, propping an elbow on the windowsill and staring out into the dark, barren landscape. "The way I see it, the desert is no place to begin an aimless search. If we were to get lost out there... Well, then our search would end very quickly, wouldn't it?"

"Why didn't we just ask for a friggn' map?" Kurogane growled. He thrust a thumb in Syaoran's direction. "The kid loves maps."

"Why settle for a map when we have could have a guide?" Fay asked, flopping around on the lumpy cot as he tried to make himself comfortable. "The Colonel assured me that he is very experienced and capable in these matters."

Kurogane brought his fist to his forehead a few times instead of offering a rebuttal.

"Well, it's not like we have any choice now," Syaoran said quietly from his position against the closed door. "We can't refuse something we've already agreed to, especially when we're dealing with a military organization. We'd be hunted down if we tried to escape."

"You make it seem as if we're trapped here," Fay said, cracking another big grin. "Have you forgotten that we have means of inter-dimensional travel?"

"It's Makona!" Mokona piped up from atop Syaoran's head.

"The second the feather is in our hands, we can simply jump ship," Fay said. "Ne, Makona?"

"Roger!" Makona confirmed, waving a stubby little paw in the air. "I come in handy in more ways than one!"

"See?" Fay said, nestling under the thin sheets. "Now, I suggest going to bed. We're leaving at dawn after all."

"So you're just taking the bed for yourself, are you?" Kurogane said, glaring darkly in Fay's direction.

"Unless you wanna share it?" Fay said with a certain tinge of sugary-sweetness to his voice. "But it's so small that we may have to sleep on top of each oth—"

Kurogane's sword sheath slammed down on the pillow where Fay's head had been just seconds before. After a few quiet moments, Fay lay back down on the pillow and smirked.

"That settles that then," Fay said. "Goodnight everyone!"

"Goodnight!" Mokona said jubilantly, hopping from Syaoran's head to the light switch. The room went dark and the shadows of the four people and a lump of fur settled in for a good night's rest.

* * *

At precisely 6:12am — Mustang had been glaring maliciously at his pocket watch since 5:55 — the door to the Colonel's office finally opened, albeit a bit halfheartedly. As the door slowly peeled away from the wall, the space beyond revealed a hunched over, bloodshot-eyed Ed.

"You're late Fullmetal," Mustang said, snapping his pocket watch shut and turning his serious face onto Ed.

"You're lucky I'm here at all," Ed mumbled. He shuffled into the room and sat down in one of the seats in front of Mustang's desk. "I'm not really a morning person."

"In that case, I'll reassign this mission to another soldier. One that's more of a morning person. Also one that has more experience and expertise," Mustang said, standing up. "Dismissed."

"No way!" Ed said, balling his fists. The bloodvessles in his eyes now looked as if lava were flowing through them. "I want this mission. I can handle it just fine."

There was a very tense moment where Mustang simply stared Ed down until finally, finally he took his seat again.

"Very well then," Mustang said. "You are reinstated to Operation: Pandora's Wingtip. Do not make me regret this."

Ed looked the Colonel right in the eye when he said, "You won't."

"As was mentioned in the mission statement, you will be traveling with a group of civilians," Mustang began, looking down at a paper on his desk. "On the record, there are four people in this group total. One female and three males. But off the record..." Mustang leaned close and smirked. "There are five. One female, three males, and an 'it'."

"An 'it'?" Ed said. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"The 'it' will make finding the Item much easier. Without it this mission would not be necessarily—nor would it be possible," Mustang said, still grinning. He leaned forward. "It's is our leverage here, Fullmetal, and as much our bargaining chip as their's. Keep that in mind."

"I'm not sure I understand," Ed said.

"You will when you see it," Mustang said.

"Alright," Ed said airily to cover his confusion. "I suppose this thing is the reason why I have to travel with an entire group of civilians."

Mustang nodded shortly. "They are not willing to part with it. Also, I suspect the beacon will only work for them. However, this raises another suspicion..."

"They're out for the feather for their own reasons," Ed said.

"If and when you find the Item, I have no doubt it will come down to a struggle," Mustang said. "These people want the Item destroyed. I don't need to tell you that such a circumstance is not in the military's best interest. You can not allow them custody of this Item, Fullmetal. It must return safely to us."

"The mission statement was very clear about that," Ed said darkly.

"Your research was impressive," Mustang said, shuffling the papers on his desk. "You seem to have a good idea where it's located."

"The general vicinity, I guess," Ed said. "I've mapped out the locations where the power of the feather has been sighted by date. It's kind of sporadic, but when you map it out, the points make a fairly straight line. My plan is to follow this path until we, hopefully, make contact with the feather."

Mustang nodded. "I wish we could be more certain of your heading, but we don't have anything else to go on. However, once you get in the area of the Item, the 'it' should take over from there to hone in on the exact location."

Mustang stood up. "Unless you have any objections, this will end your briefing. The group is waiting for you in the lobby. I expect regular correspondence from you, Fullmetal. That means a full report every week including your location and the mission's status. Understood?"  
"Yes, sir," Ed said, getting up and saluting a lazily as he dared. He headed toward the door.

"Oh, and Fullmetal," Mustang said as Ed's hand rested on the doorknob.

"Yeah?" Ed asked, looking back.

"This mission will make or break your career, you know," Mustang said. "Don't take it lightly."

Without a word, Ed left the office, shutting the door as firmly as he dared.

Al was standing as still as a statue across the hall from Mustang's office door.

"The Colonel isn't coming with us to meet the group?" Al asked.

"Nope," Ed said. "And I ain't asking questions, either. The sooner I can leave him behind, the better. I feel less irritated already."

"So, what did Colonel Mustang say about them?" Al asked, clanking beside him. "What are they like?"

Ed shrugged and started down the hallway toward the lobby. "He didn't really say much about them. Just that there's one female, three males, and an 'it'."

"'It'"? Al said dubiously.

But Ed just shook his head. "I really don't know. But I guess we'll find out soon enough, huh? They're waiting in the lobby."

"But the lobby's aways very busy," Al said. "You don't even know what they look like?"

"Nope," Ed said. "I'm sure that damn Mustang just wants me to get more frustrated."

Ed rounded the corner and emerged into the lobby. Even at six o'clock in the morning, the place was still buzzing with activity. Although the majority of the people there were military personnel, there were also a far amount of civilians there to file reports, and make tax payments, etc. Ed took a minute to visually wade through the crowd, but he knew who he was looking for the moment he saw them.

"They fit the description the Colonel gave us," Al said, obviously having spotted the same group Ed was looking at. "But I didn't quite expect them to look so... foreign."

Ed grunted a reply. The group was certainly odd-looking: a swordsman of some kind with dark red eyes and even darker clothing, a wispy young man with hair so blond it was almost white, a boy no older than Ed with scruffy brown hair and a tattered green cloak unmistakably suited for desert weather, and frail-looking girl with amber hair that curled at the ends. She was holding a white blob-like stuffed animal in her lap.

"I can't believe _this_ is our group," Ed growled. He didn't make a move forward, but started at them openly. "I thought they'd be more like... Like soldiers. Just look at that girl. It looks like she's going to faint on us at any moment. How is she going to hold up in the desert?"

"Well, they're our responsibly now," Al said. "We should go introduce ourselves."

"Great," Ed said. "Just great. You know, I bet I could take any of them in a fight."

"From the sound of your mission statement, Nii-san," Al said as he headed over to the group. "You just might get to test that theory."

* * *

"Are you alright, Princess?" Syaoran asked Sakura softly as she stifled another yawn.

"I'm fine!" Sakura said in a cheerfully groggy voice. "I'm almost used to being awake so early in the morning."

"How much longer do we have to sit here?" Kurogane growled.

"You shouldn't ask questions to which you already know the answer," Fay answered in an authoritative tone. "You were here when the Lieutenant said anytime after six. We would've been informed if that had changed."

"It's _well_ after six," Kurogane said, his eyebrow twitching.

"I'm sure the Colonel has a lot to brief our guide on," Fay said, with a dismissive wave of his hand. "After all, we are _very_ suspicious."

"You could say that again," said a rough male voice from somewhere outside the group's little circle.

Four sets of eyes turned toward the source.

The first thing any of them saw was a towering suit of silver armor now standing in the alcove of the lobby waiting room where, seconds before, there had been nothing but empty air. At first Syaoran simply thought that someone had dragged an empty suit of armor over, but the eye holes made him think differently. The light shinned with an intelligence that only came from sentient minds. It made Syaoran absolutely positive that there was a human being inside.

After several moments, Syaoran also noticed a young boy—no older than twelve or thirteen judging by his height—dwarfed by the presence of the seven-foot-tall suit of armor beside him. He was glaring seriously under angled eyebrows, his gold eyes focused and sharp as he looked the group over. His long golden-blond hair was pulled back in one big braid with a few strands poking out at the top like a pair of antenee. Syaoran also couldn't help but notice the dark lines around his eyes and mouth—a testament to the fact that this young boy had seen more horrors in his life than everyone else in the room put together...

Save for the four people he was staring at.

"What did you say, you little brat?" Kurogane said, angling his words at the boy. He stood up and flicked his black cape over his shoulder to reveal the sword sheathed at his side.

"No one calls me 'little' and gets away with it," the boy said. He took a step forward, but the suit of armor reached out and put a huge hand on the boy's shoulder. The kid relaxed a bit, but continued glaring maliciously at Kurogane.

"Now, now everyone," Fay said, stepping into the center of the lobby and flashing a smile that could melt the sun. "Let's not get off to a bad start. We've only just met."

Kurogane sat back down and crossed his arms heavily over his chest.

Fay stepped forward toward the suit of armor, beaming an air of hospitality and good will.

"You must be the Fullmetal Alchemist," Fay said to the armored man. "I must say that you certainly live up to your title."

To the group's surprise, the suit of armor threw up his hands immediately and took several steps backward. He bent down to the boy beside him who had bared gritted teeth as his face filled with red rage.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to be rude, Nii-san," a hollow-sounding voice came from inside the armor. It sounded much younger than the boy's had. "He's just trying to be friendly."

"'Nii-san?'" Syaoran repeated, blinking. "He's the _older_ brother?"

The boy's golden eyes flicked in Syaoran's direction.

"Does that surprise you?" he asked icily.

"Uh—Well…" Syaoran stuttered.

"You mean _you_ aren't the Fullmetal Alchemist?" Fay asked the suit of armor.

A clanking noise came from the armored man's neck as he shook his head vigorously. "I'm not even in the military. My name is Alphonse Elric. This is my older brother, Edward. _He's_ the Fullmetal Alchemist."

All the while, the veins in Ed's forehead were pulsing so hard that they were turning purple.

Fay quickly regained his composure and turned to Ed. He had to lean down a bit to look Ed in the eye.

"Of course I didn't mean to offend you," Fay said sweetly. "Surely you understand how I could make such a mistake. Your brother's size—"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT EVEN THE WORLD'S TINIEST ELECTRON THINKS HE'S JUST A SPECK OF DUST?"

The walls rang in the stunned silence as all eyes in the lobby snapped in the direction of the yelling. Al had grabbed Ed by his armpits as the young State Alchemist huffed indignantly. After a few whispered comments from the military staff ("Someone must've called Edward-kun short again,") the bustle in the lobby returned to normal and Al slowly released his brother after Ed quit struggling.

When it seemed safe, Kurogane pulled his fingers out of his ears and Sakura and Syaoran relaxed back into their seats. Fay smoothed out a few strands of hair that had been disheveled in the wake of Ed's explosive outburst.

"I didn't say that exactly, did I?" Fay said.

"You don't have to exactly say it to mean it," Ed growled. He pulled his arms over his chest and let his eyes wander over each person in front of him. His gaze lingered particularly on Kurogane's red eyes and the "stuffed animal" in Sakura's lap. After taking in the sights, Ed breathed deeply before speaking again. "Well, believe it or not, _I'm_ the one assigned as your escort on this mission. State Alchemist Edward Elric. Designation is Fullmetal. And this," Ed swung a thumb in the direction of Al. "Is my little brother Alphonse."

"Nii-san," Al whispered, moving close. "I've already told them all that."

"Shut up, Al," Ed said in a low voice out of the corner of his mouth. "I've got to do this the only way I know how!"

"Is what the Colonel said about you true?" Syaoran spoke up from the back of the waiting room. His face was set and serious as he looked Ed in the eye. "Do you really know where the feather is?"

"I have a pretty good idea," Ed said shortly after only a moment's hesitation.

"But nothing specific?" Kurogane said, tapping his sword sheath against his boot. "Nothing that you could circle on a map?"

"Nothing specific," came Ed's quick reply. "But I've been told that's where you guys come in."

"That's right," Fay said before anyone had a chance to respond. "And so it seems that we need each other. If we all want the same thing, that is."

There was a long silence among the ambient noise in the lobby before Ed spoke up again.

"It's getting late. We should head out now so we'll have a few hours before the sun gets too high," he said, turning his back on the group. "Grab anything you left in your rooms and meet me back here."

"No, we're ready now," Syaoran said, standing up. He moved to stand next to Fay.

Fay smiled. "We don't have much in the way of personal effects. We travel light."

"Heh," Ed said, shrugging his shoulders. "That's the first good thing I've heard all morning."

He turned back around. "We're headed to a small mining village near the east border called Yous Well. It's the location of one of the first encounters with the feather and the place where we'll start our search. Sound good?"

"Sounds like a plan," Fay said, ginning. "And a plan is better than anything we have."

Ed nodded and headed for the big double doors that marked the exit into the city. Al followed.

"How long will it take us to get to Yous Well?" Fay asked, coming up behind the two after the rest of the group got to their feet.

Ed shrugged. "Two hours by train. Give or take an hour depending on the number of stops. Next train leaves in fifteen minutes."

"A train, you say?" Fay said, grimacing slightly.

"Yeah," Ed said, looking up at Fay. "Is that a problem?"

"Ah, well…" Fay said. He flashed a grin. "Not if train tickets don't cost anything."

Ed's expression dropped. "You don't have any money?"

"I did say we travel light," Fay said. "And money is one of the heaviest objects of all."

Ed sighed and put his left hand to his forehead.

"What should we do, Nii-san?" Al whispered.

"Fine," Ed said, pulling his hand from his face. He smirked a bit. "We'll walk."

He turned and walked out the door, Al close behind.

"If they die, you think I'll fail my mission?" Ed asked Al as he meandered down the headquarters steps.

"I think so," Al replied. "Otherwise we won't be able to confirm the existence or nonexistence of the item."

"Damn," Ed said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

From the platform below the steps, Ed and Al watched the four foreigners exit the building and head down the steps. Fay and Kurogane came first, Kurogane yelling with abandon and raising his fists while Fay ran away in mock fear. Syaoran and Sakura came next, Syaoran escorting the girl down each step as she looked sleepy and dazed in the sunshine.

"This is going to be a lot harder than I thought."


	3. Same Road, Same Reason

**Chaptire.III  
Same Road, Same Reason**

"EDWARD ELRIC! YOUNG ALPHONSE!"

Ed and Al stopped dead in their tracks at hearing the humongous voice echoing throughout Central's main courtyard. Syaoran and the group stopped and peered curiously into the crowd for the source of the voice.

"Nii-san…" Al said warily.

"I know," Ed said, looking as if he'd just been told to head to the gallows. "It's too late. We've been spotted."

"Someone you know?" Fay asked.

Ed whirled around and looked up at everyone very seriously. "Just don't say anything. Let me do the talking. Hopefully I can get rid of him, but not if you stupidly strike up a conversation, got it?"

"Ah," Fay said. "He's one of _those_ people, is he?"

Al turned to him and seemed to smile through his eyes. "Major Armstrong is his very own category of people."

The sun was completely obscured as a gigantic man descended upon the group. He stood even taller than Al and was completely bald except for a single tuft of blond hair curling like a pig's tail in the middle of his forehead. One of his arms was easily bigger than all of Sakura. He deposited six bundles of what looked like camping gear on the ground and then clapped Ed on the shoulder so hard it was surprising he wasn't hammered into the ground.

"I heard you're on a mission!" the man yelled. "Good job, my boy! Good job!"

"Thanks…" Ed mumbled, rubbing his shoulder.

"And these must be the foreigners I've heard so much about!" the man said, turning to Syaoran and the others. He extended one giant hand to the crowd. "Alex Louis Armstrong at your service!"

Fay smiled and stepped forward to shake hands. "It's a pleasure."

"What is all this, Major Armstrong-san?" Al asked, indicating the bundles on the ground.

"The Colonel told me you left without provisions!" Armstrong boomed. "You're all traveling the desert, are you not? Then you must have the proper equipment!" He gestured widely to the packs. "Official government-sanctioned survival gear. Courtesy of the military—since you are engaged in a military operation, of course."

"How thoughtful," Fay said, smirking.

While Syaoran, Fay, Kurogane, Sakura, and Al mulled over the packs, Armstrong yanked Ed to the side and leaned in so close that Ed could feel the giant man's blond mustache sweep his cheeks with every word.

"Edward Elric, you do know that a train runs from here to Yous Well, correct?" Armstrong said.

"Yeah, I know," Ed replied.

"The desert is extremely hostile, my boy," Armstrong said. "I advise you take a train instead of traveling the several day's journey through the heat, especially since you have a group to watch over."

"Trust me, Major, I'd be more than happy to take a train," Ed said. He raised his voice and directed it toward the group behind him. "But _some_ people don't keep track of their finances enough to be able to afford a simple train ticket."

Armstrong spun Ed back to face him just in time to miss Kurogane's heated glare. "Are you saying that you've spent your entire military allowance for the year already? I understand that you are young and full of curiosity, Edward Elric, but money management is an essential skill for anyone—"

"Major, there's nothing wrong with my finances," Ed said, putting up his hands. He thrust his thumb to indicate the group behind him. "They're the ones who are broke. And I am _not_ doing those freeloaders any favors. They've gotta earn money just like everybody else."

"I see," Armstrong grinned through his mustache and then stood up straight and saluted miles above Ed's head. "Best of luck to you all."

Ed saluted lazily while everyone behind him issued their gratitude for the gear. Even Kurogane was chided into murmuring a thanks after a elbow to the ribs from Fay.

"Ah, one more thing," Armstrong said. He leaned toward Ed dramatically. "I hear the Fuhrer has taken a personal interest in your progress. Keep that in mind when you write up your reports." He gave a curt nod and headed away, turning back around to wave a few times before finally disappearing from sight.

"The Fuhrer?" Al said, his voice filled with awe. "Really?"

Ed shrugged. "I'd rather have the Fuhrer reading my reports than the Colonel."

"I don't know…" Al said. "This sounds serious, Nii-san."

"Who's the Fuhrer?" Fay asked as he hoisted a pack on his shoulders. "The head of the military?"

Al glanced down at Ed who crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Where did you guys say you're from?"

"Oh, somewhere pretty far-off," Fay said, smirking. "We're quite disconnected from your society, really."

"I'll say," Ed said. "You look like nomads, got no money, never heard of the Fuhrer… Even the Eastlanders know who the Fuhrer is and I'd call them pretty damn disconnected."

"Let's just say that we've come from a lot farther than the East and leave it at that," Fay said, flashing a disarming smile. "We're not always going to be completely on the same level, so please humor us from time to time with information you see as inherent fact. I promise you that we learn quickly and, the more you share with us, the more we'll be willing to return the favor."

Ed glanced up at Al who shrugged.

"The Fuhrer is the head of our government," Al said. "He also controls the military."

"Wow," Sakura breathed from the back of the group. "I guess you can't get anyone higher to read your reports than the Fuhrer."

Ed looked un-phased, but sighed a little when he said, "Nope. I guess not."

Syaoran and Kurogane exchanged glances. They were both thinking the same thing: if they ditched their escort, they'd have the entire military after them as soon as Ed's report could get to headquarters.

"Well, let's get going," Ed said, picking up the last pack on the ground and slinging it over his shoulder. "We're leaving late as it is. The sun's coming up quick."

"I think the sun is already having an effect on me," Syaoran mumbled to Kurogane as the two took the lead following Ed toward the endless desert in the distance. "I could've sworn I saw pink sparkles floating all around while that Armstrong man was here."

"You saw them too, huh?" Fay said, coming up from behind. "Good thing I don't need my eyes examined then."

"I thought they were pretty," Sakura said sheepishly.

* * *

The sun was nearing the top of the world by the time the group reached the limits of Central's outer borders. The desert sprawled out before them, stretching far into the wavy distance.

"Hyuu," Fay whistled, hiking his pack further up his back. "Would you look at all that sand."

"It's a desert, you moron," Kurogane growled. "It's made of sand."

"It's so bright out," Fay said. He shaded his eyes as he looked toward the sun. "And rather hot."

"It's a desert!" Kurogane said. "What were you expecting? Snow?"

"The landscape is so barren, too," Fay said, cracking a grin.

"It's a desert!" Kurogane roared. "A DESERT!"

"Careful, Kuro-sama," Fay said. He wagged a finger. "You're going to waste all your desert energy."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kurogane said, thumping his chest. "I have plenty of energy for anything."

"Sounds exhausting," Fay said.

"Come on," Ed said, shouting over his shoulder to the group behind him. "We have to keep moving if we're going to find shelter for the night."

"We'll head for that outcropping there," Al said, pointing into the distance where a few peaks of jagged sandstone jutted out of the dunes. "There's an oasis near there where we can replenish our supply of water."

"You two seem to know your way around the area," Syaoran remarked to Ed and Al.

"Heh, well," Ed said, crossing him arms with a sly grin. "When you get lost in the desert for four days, you learn your way around."

"You mean when you get _abandoned_ in the desert, Nii-san," Al said. "We only ended up out here after you threatened the taxi driver."

"Hey!" Ed said, whirling on Al. "I was _not_ going to stand for that kind of abuse."

"What abuse?" Al said, crossing his arms with a _clunk_. "He didn't know he was talking about _you_ when he called the Fullmetal Alchemist short. It was just a description."

Sakura stifled a giggle while Fay outwardly snickered.

"Just drop it, okay, Al!" Ed snapped. He turned the Syaoran. "All _you_ need to know is that I know this place well enough to not get lost in it. It's going to be a long trip, but, as long as you four can _survive_, I'll get you where we're going."

Syaoran narrowed his eyes, but nodded. "Understood."

The group walked in silence for a few miles. Sakura spent the time staring up at the vultures circling overhead while Fay kept watch on the little lizards that went scurrying across the sands at odd intervals. Kurogane walked a few paces directly behind Ed and Al with his hand on his sword hilt. Syaoran took up the rear, his eyes glued on the back of Sakura's head.

Al slowed his pace to let Fay and Sakura, who were walking side-by-side, catch up a bit.

"Aren't you hot in all that?" Al asked Fay, eyeing his huge fluffy, white robe. The tail of it dragged behind him, kicking up sand. He had the big hood up so his face was enshrouded in shadow.

"I could ask the same of you," Fay remarked, indicating Al's armor. "All that metal must be acting like an oven."

"No, I really don't feel anything," Al said. "Least of all the heat."

A chill went down Sakura's spine when she heard the words. Al's tone was indefinable, but carried some strange wistful longing. It was the same tone she heard from ghosts sometimes when they spoke to her of the things they'd lost.

"Now, I find that very difficult to believe," Fay said. "It's probably over one hundred degrees out here."

He playfully knocked on Al's arm and the metal echoed hollowly. Fay's expression fell for just a fraction of a second. The momentary lapse in a grin on Fay's face was lost on Al, but Sakura saw it.

"Then again," Fay said, his grin back. "Maybe it's not so hard to believe…"

Al grabbed his arm and remained silent.

"To answer your question," Fay said. "I'm stifling in this coat."

He pulled up the sleeve to show Al the sweat glistening off his arm. "But it's better than a sunburn."

"Is it cold where you come from?" Al asked.

Fay nodded. "It snows all year round. Without protection, you could freeze to death in a matter of hours."

"But you," Al said, turning to Sakura. "You're dressed differently. It's like you two come from totally different places."

"We do," Fay said. "Actually, you _could_ say that Kurogane and I are just tagging along with Sakura-chan and Syaoran. It's Sakura's journey, really."

"Oh, no, Fay-san," Sakura said, shaking her head. "You, Kurogane-san, and Syaoran-kun have done so much for me that I couldn't possibly consider any of you 'tag-alongs.' Without you three, I really don't know what I would have done. I certainly never would have made it this far. Of course, I owe a big thanks to others as well." At this, she gave a big squeeze to the stuffed animal she carried.

"How long have you been traveling?" Al asked. He was very confused, but didn't want to press anyone too hard for information. He figured that, by asking easy questions, he'd glean more information than if he actually asked more straight-forward questions.

"Hm…" Fay said, bringing his hand to his chin. "That seems like it should have such an easy answer, but it's very hard to tell. We've traveled all over the place, you see. Places in different time zones and that have different calendar systems… How long do you think we've been on the road, so to speak, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura blushed and looked down at the sand. "Um, well… I really couldn't say. I've been asleep for much of the trip…"

"Ah, yes. That would distort your perception of time, wouldn't it?" Fay said. He yelled ahead: "Oy, Syaoran, Kuro-pyon! I have a question!"

"It's Kuro_gane_, damnit!" Kurogane fumed, but he stopped long enough to let Al, Fay, and Sakura catch up. Syaoran pushed forward to join the conversation. Ed was still plugging ahead, not paying attention to anything but the horizon.

"How long would you say we've been traveling?" Fay asked once the two were close enough.

"Tch," Kurogane said. "Seems like ages with you always around."

After a few moments of contemplation, Syaoran shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We're here now and we'll hunt for the feather for as long as it takes."

"I'd say that's a great answer, Syaoran," Fay said, nodding deeply. He turned to Al. "The short answer to your question is: it doesn't matter."

"And the long answer?" Al asked.

Fay traded glances with Syaoran and grinned. "That's classified."

"Would you all hurry _up_?" Ed yelled, his voice carrying over the dunes on the biting desert wind. He was barely a dot on the horizon. "I'd like to get to our destination someday!"

"Don't mind my brother," Al said as the group picked up the pace. "He doesn't make very good first impressions."

"He has a military personality," Fay said, flashing a smile as if he were paying Ed a compliment. "Still, he seems young to be involved with the armed forces."

"Nii-san's older than his height suggests," Al said, smiling with his eyes. "But, yeah, he's the youngest person to ever be accepted into the military. He got his certification when he was only twelve years old. He had to get special permission to take the exam and everything."

"Impressive," Fay said.

"But what was his motivation?" Syaoran asked, looking at Ed in almost a new light. "Why hand his life over to the military like that?"

It was a few moments before Al answered.

"The military provides Nii-san with the money and knowledge we need to accomplish our goal," Al said. He turned his head toward the four. "See, we're trying to regain something we've lost."

Sakura's heart fluttered, and she said, "What do your parents think of Edward-san being in the military?"

"Our parents are…" Al faltered for a moment. "Our father, well, we think he's still alive somewhere. Maybe. As for our mother… She's dead now."

"I—I'm sorry," Sakura said.

"Don't be," Al said. "It's not your fault she died."

"It's just…" Sakura began. "My father passed away a long time ago. I had forgotten about his death and, when I remembered, it was like he died all over again. So… it's almost as if he died twice."

Al was quiet for a long time before he said, "I know the feeling."

"You do?" Sakura said.

Al nodded. "It's not that I forget about her, but she did die twice."

Al stared straight ahead at his brother who was trudging long with his pack on his back and his hands in his pockets. After a few moments, Al looked back to Sakura and the group and said, "Nii-san would probably kill me if he knew I told you that."

"Don't worry," Syaoran said quietly. "We won't say anything."

"And who are we going to tell?" Fay said. "Besides, we're bound to learn a bit about each other during this trek. Things are going to slip out and be pieced together."

"Frankly," Kurogane mumbled to Al. "I have no freaking idea what you mean."

* * *

"Guh! It's so frustrating to just _sit_ up here and watch 'em all traipse around in the desert weak and tired! It's like watching sitting ducks!"

"Mind yourself, Envy. We are on strict surveillance-only orders. We make no moves until we're instructed otherwise."

Envy, Lust, and Gluttony sat upon a rock face to the south of where the group was walking headed north. Envy was pacing back and forth on a ledge, every so often staring violently at the group that was quickly becoming little more than a lump of shadows in the distance. Lust sat primly on a flat part of the rock while Gluttony ate small boulders and the occasional lizard or scorpion he came across.

"If you ask me, I think the old bat's gone completely bonkers. It would be so easy to simply pick off Chibi-san and the tin can and lead the other four back home for the old woman to look at. I mean, if she wants to know so much about them—"

"You never go blind into a battle," Lust said, shaking her head. "We don't have any idea what those four are capable of. I got the impression that they could be very dangerous."

"Pfft," Envy said. "How could they be any more dangerous than Chibi-san, huh? I've seen the limits of the human condition and, I gotta tell ya, I wasn't too impressed."

"Oh, you think you've seen the limits of the human condition, do you?" Lust said, leaning forward and smiling savagely. "I think we have barely scratched the surface."

* * *

A/N: I feel I must apologize about the huge, horrible delay with this chapter, my friends. I just had a hard time with the structuring of the character introduction. Anyway, the next chaptire will be a lot more exciting and, with any luck, won't take me another six months... :P Thanks for reading and remember: reviews motivate me to update! They're the only way I know people are still interested! Also, you can always come remind me to update through my blog (linked in my profile). I'd love to hear from you guys! 


	4. The Alchemist

**Chaptire.IV  
The Alchemist**

"I can't believe it!" Ed fumed, flinging his arms wide. "How did this happen?"

He was standing in the middle of a disk of dry, cracked dirt that had once been a tiny oasis. A ring of withered vegetation circled the parameter like some sort of morbid halo. It looked particularly eerie and forbidding in the setting sun as the elongated shadows from the dead plants stretched over the sand to form claw-like shapes.

Al got on his knees and dug deep under the parched sand. After several fistfuls, he shook his head.

"It's no use, Nii-san," Al said, dumping the dirt back into the hole he had created. "It's all dried up."

"An oasis doesn't normally dry up without a reason," Syaoran observed, his chin in his hand. "It usually only happens when it's abused by neighboring towns or caravans that travel through."

"The nearest civilization is a small village that's still hours away," Al said, pointing slightly northeast. "I doubt they could siphon off enough water in one trip to dry the whole thing up. All the other towns have their own aquifers or pipelines supplying them with water from the northern cities. They hardly needed this little pool."

"So who the hell cares about _why_ the water is gone?" Kurogane said darkly. "All this means is that we're stuck in the middle of the desert without a fresh supply. I've already gone through half my canteen."

"And mine's empty," Fay said, shaking his canteen. The droplets of water left inside tinkled melodiously.

"Mine's still mostly full," Syaoran said.

"I haven't had any of mine," Sakura said.

"I've gone through most of mine," Ed said.

"I never filled mine up," Al said sheepishly.

The group stood in silence for a few agonizing minutes, taking in the severity of their situation. The sun beating down seemed to grow hotter by the second, even as it rapidly sank away. The sand that whipped up into their faces by the wind bit like pinpricks. The horizon stretched away until it seemed like they could walk forever and never move.

They were all suddenly very, very thirsty. Even Al was panicking inside. He may have not needed water, nor did he feel the heat, but what was bad for the group was bad for himself as well. After all, he couldn't carry everyone! And they'd all certainly be dead by the time he could get help and return…

"Okay," Ed said finally. "We have two canteens of water to split between all of us and a good twelve hours to the next town by foot. We need to conserve if we're going to stave off dehydration… Damn, I was really counting on this oasis."

"We should be alright if we each just take a few sips every hour or so," Syaoran said.

"It'll be night soon," Fay said, shading his eyes to look toward the falling sun. "We shouldn't have any trouble conserving water while we're sleeping."

Ed shook his head. "We should keep moving through the night and rest during the hottest part of the day tomorrow."

Syaoran nodded. "I agree." He turned toward the group. "Our bodies will absorb the water much more efficiently if we're not immediately sweating it back out."

"So… We're off, then?" Fay asked.

Ed nodded. "We should try to get as far as we can before daybreak. We'll find some outcropping near dawn where we can take shelter for the day. The main goal is to keep from exerting energy as much as possible. We should cover as much ground as we can, but without so much as breaking a sweat, go it?"

"So you won't be yelling at us to keep moving every five seconds now?" Fay asked, looking hopeful.

Ed rolled his eyes. "If you called your pace back there 'normal,' we'll _never_ reach the village at your 'slow' pace."

Ed gave one last menacing glare toward the dried ground and started back toward the north. Al and Fay followed close behind, Fay trying different walking paces and trying to get Ed to tell him which one was best. Kurogane sighed, flung his black cape over his back, and began to trudge ahead.

Syaoran was about to move on too when he looked back to see Sakura kneeling at the edge of circle. She was holding one hand out over the cracked dirt while cradling Mokona close to her chest. Her aura strained.

"Princess?" Syaoran said.

Syaoran's voice seemed to wake her. She turned to him. "Something terrible happened here. The well is still in shock."

"The well…?" Syaoran said. "You mean deep underground where all the water is?"

Sakura shook her head. "There isn't a single drop left. It's all been taken away. Taken away in an instant. It's awful. The well is so sad, but has no tears to cry."

This small revelation shocked Syaoran. Even for a small oasis like this, the aquifer underground would've been substantial—hundreds of thousands of gallons at least. And even if someone were to somehow tap deep enough into the reservoir to dry the oasis, they couldn't possibly have taken _all_ the water from the aquifer in an "instant"… could they?

"Mokona can feel it," Mokona said, mouth barely moving. "The echoes of Sakura's feather. One was here, but it's gone now."

"Can you tell what direction it went?" Syaoran asked.

"No," Mokona said, remaining as lifeless as a stuffed animal. "There's too much strange energy everywhere. It's the science-energy Fay was talking about."

"Thank you, Mokona," Sakura said, patting the white puffball on the head. "You've been really wonderful to stay so still and silent all this time. I promise we'll make it up to you somehow."

"Mokona's fine with Sakura," Mokona said, snuggling against Sakura's arms ever so slightly.

"Just let us know if you sense anything else," Syaoran said. "Even if you have to break your cover."

"Will do!" Mokona confirmed.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, Syaoran-kun!" Fay said, waving his arms in large arcs in the distance. "Edward-san's gonna start yelling again! He's calling you both all sorts of terrible names for not keeping up!"

"I AM NOT!" Ed's voice rang out like a paper shredder. "I just don't feel like dying out here, that's all!"

"I need to tell Kurogane-san and Fay-san what we found out," Syaoran said as they hurried over to the group. He indicated Ed and Al. "Try to distract those two, okay?"

"Okay," Sakura said. She pulled ahead to step into pace with Al and Ed at the head of the group.

As he watched Sakura strike up a conversation with Al, Syaoran found that the further he stepped away from the dry oasis, the more he left his thoughts there.

He wondered how much longer it would be before they had to confront the mysterious energy that had sucked a well dry in a matter of seconds…

…And if water was really the only thing it was after.

* * *

The sun was just peaking over the horizon when the group collapsed in the shaded shelter of an outcropping of sandstone. Everyone was frozen solid from the surprisingly frigid desert night, but at least it had helped them conserve water. But as soon as the sun began to rise, the heat came back with a vengeance. The sunshine was a relief from the cold for mere minutes before it began beat down like clubs.

"Yeah, this traveling in the desert thing was a _great_ idea," Kurogane said as he rolled up his cape and used it as a makeshift pillow.

"_You're_ the idiots who couldn't afford train tickets," Ed snapped. "So don't complain to me!"

"We're all just a little tired," Al said, dragging Ed away from the group. "Everyone'll feel better after a good, long nap. Let's get some rest."

"No complaints there," Fay said, snuggling up on the ground.

Ed and Al watched Syaoran and everyone get settled for the day. Their preparations were quick and they wasted no time with creature comforts like even removing their shoes.

"You can tell they've done stuff like this before," Al said quietly. "I think they're telling truth about having traveled a long distance."

"Yeah, well, that's not the question," Ed said. "I'd like to know _where_ they came from. It's like they're from a different planet altogether. Except that one guy… the one with Ishbalan eyes. What's his name again?"

"Kurogane, I think," Al said.

"Doesn't sound Ishbalan, though," Ed said, spreading his sleeping bag on the ground. "And I'm pretty sure every Ishbalan on the planet knows who the Fuhrer is."

"Yeah…" Al said.

Ed yawned. "I've got to get some sleep, Al. Keep and eye on them for me, okay? And wake me when it's evening."

"Sure thing, Nii-san," Al said.

"Thanks," Ed said. He was snoring with his midsection exposed in no time.

* * *

"No… No… I was so close."

Sakura awoke in the middle of the day stifling hot and incredibly thirsty, but in a secondhand way that made her think that her feelings were not her own. Dazed, she lifted her head and looked around to see her companions. They were all sweating a bit, but sleeping soundly and didn't look nearly as hot or parched as she felt.

"I can't believe it! So close!"

Sakura didn't recognize the voice itself, but she knew the tone it used all too well. Placing Mokona gently to the side, Sakura got up and wandered from the outcropping. As soon as she left the sanctuary of the shadow cast by the sandstone, the weight of the sunshine fell like lead on her shoulders and the sand burned right through the soles of her feet to her bones. But she paid the pain no mind and rounded the corner where the voice got stronger.

From the other side of the shelter, Al watched as Sakura got up and, like someone possessed, walked out onto the sand and disappeared around the corner. He wondered briefly if he should wake Ed, but decided against it when he looked over to see his brother snoring fitfully. Waking him up to tell him that Sakura was sleep-walking seemed cruel.

But Al wasn't so unconcerned that he wasn't going to follow the girl. As quietly as he could, he got up and retraced Sakura's steps around to the other side of the sandstone. He found Sakura standing on top of a flat part of sandstone that extended from the main rock face into the sand. His clunky armor wasn't made for stealth and the metallic noise echoed off the barren sandstone, but Sakura didn't seem to notice he was there. She stood with her back to him, staring at something he couldn't see.

"So close!"

As soon as Sakura had rounded the corner, she found the owner of the voice. A man was huddled near the rock face, grabbing at his ankles with his chin on his knees and staring at a point on the ground. His clothing was tattered and dusty with sand. His skin was leathered from the sun and he looked like he hadn't eaten in years.

He was also semi-transparent. Sakura could see straight through his form to the sandstone behind him.

He looked up at Sakura as she approached. "Can you believe I was this close?"

"Close to what?" Sakura asked.

"Water!" the man cried, stroking the stone at his feet. "Right beneath here."

Sakura knelt next to the man at the spot and placed her palm on the stone. It felt cool and almost wet.

"I had no idea I was so close," the man whispered. "If I'd known…"

"I'm sorry," Sakura said. The look of loss about the man tugged at her heart.

The man shook his head and stood. He smiled a little. "I'm just so relieved you've come. Now that someone knows where this water is, I can finally rest."

"Thank you for showing me," Sakura said. The hopeless feeling of terrible hunger and thirst was lifting from her. "I promise we'll put it to good use."

"And please bring some to the village," the ghost said as he faded away. "They pray for water every day."

Sakura nodded.

"Sakura-san?" Al said as he came closer. The girl seemed to have awakened from a dream and she turned and set her bright green eyes on him.

"Elric-san," Sakura said. "Did I wake you?"

"No, I wasn't sleeping," Al said, shaking his head. "What are you doing out here? You could get sunstroke."

"I think I found water," Sakura said, putting her hand back onto the stone. "Right below here."

"Uh, really?" Al said. "How can you tell?"

"He told me," Sakura said. She pointed to the wall of sandstone.

Al took a step back. There, huddled by the wall, was the decomposed corpse of a human being, its bones picked clean by scavengers.

* * *

"There's water _here_?" Ed said, stamping his foot on the sandstone floor. "That's impossible."

"Not really," Syaoran said. "Moisture escaping from the aquifer is probably what created this rock formation in the first place."

"Dozens of things could've created this rock face," Ed said, waving his hand.

"Even if there is water," Kurogane said. "How are we going to get to it? We don't have anything to dig with."

Ed rolled his eyes. "That's not the problem. I can get to it. But I don't want to waste the energy if it turns out there's nothing down there."

"It's down there," Sakura said, her tone earnest. "I'm positive."

"What, we're going to go on your _hunch_?" Ed said.

"Sakura-chan is very good at finding things like this," Fay said.

"If she says there's water down there, it's there," Syaoran insisted.

Ed looked up at Al who shrugged. Ed sighed.

"Alright," Ed said, stepping up. "But I get a whole canteen of water to myself if I pull up nothing but sand."

Ed told everyone to get off the rock and stand back.

"Just how do you plan to get the water out of the ground?" Kurogane said as he and the rest of the group backed up.

"I have my hands, don't I?" Ed said.

Kurogane lifted an eyebrow. "You don't seriously think you can dig through solid rock with your bare hands, do you? I'm nowhere near as tiny as you are and I can't even do that."

The veins in Ed's forehead pulsed, but he said calmly, "Just stay back and don't look directly into the light, okay, Blackie?"

"Blackie?" Kurogane growled.

Ed clapped his hands and slapped his palms onto the sandstone. A bright bluish-white light glowed at the points where Ed's hands contacted the rock. As he slowly raised his hands from the floor, the rock began to flow together and followed Ed's hands upward like a candle melting in reverse. Spears of yellow, red, and white energy stabbed out like lightening bolts around the formation and there was a sound like crumpling tinfoil. After a few moments, the vague shape of a water pump appeared in the formless blob and got more defined as Ed stood there, a look of detached concentration on his face.

"What is he doing?" Sakura asked, shading her eyes from the light. "Some sort of magic?"

Al laughed. "No, it's alchemy. Nii-san is transmuting the surrounding sandstone into a water pump. There's nothing magical about it. It's science."

"I've never seen any sort of science that can do that," Syaoran said.

The light and sound suddenly stopped and Ed waved to everyone from in front of a sandstone water pump. "Okay. Who wants to do the honors?"

"That was impressive, Edward-san," Fay said as he and the rest of the group approached the pump. "I always thought you needed a special circle to perform alchemy."

"Usually you do," Ed said. He placed his hands on his hips and puffed his chest out. "But I'm not your normal alchemist."

"You know about this alchemy thing, Fay-san?" Syaoran asked, looking awed.

"Not really," Fay said. He grinned. "Where I come from alchemy is all theory. I don't think anyone ever actually got it to work."

"I find that hard to believe," Ed said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Anyone can perform alchemy. Just some are better at it than others."

Kurogane gingerly poked at the water pump as if were going to crumble to the ground at any moment. "So alchemy turns rock into water pumps? How?"

"Alchemy transmutes one object into another object that has the same properties," Al explained. "Every object in the world is simply a combination of different elements. We use alchemy to rearrange those elements to produce an entirely different object."

"So… you can turn lead into gold?" Syaoran asked.

"That's illegal, but, yeah, I could," Ed confirmed. "Coal into diamonds, piles of lumber into homes, knives into spoons… you name it. As long as the two objects have the same physical makeup and size, I can make one into the other."

"For instance," Al said. "We couldn't transmute sand into water because those two things have nothing in common."

"Speaking of water…" Fay said. He indicated the water pump. "Is this thing functional?"

"It'll pump water," Ed said. "But only if it's down there in the first place."

"Well, what are you all standing around for?" Kurogane said. He grabbed the handle and, with a grunt, pushed down hard.

"This is why we keep you around, Kuro-sama," Fay said.

"Shut up," Kurogane growled.

The first few pumps pushed out only dust, but soon there was a trickle of sandy mud. After a few more pumps, water cascaded from the nozzle, soaking the sand below.

"Good job, Sakura-chan," Fay said, patting Sakura on the head.

Ed shook his head. "I don't know how you did it, but this solves a lot of problems. At least we're not going to die now."

Everyone filled (and subsequently drained) their canteens several times before they all felt satisfied and relatively cool. Everyone, that is, except for Al. Syaoran, Kurogane, and Fay all noticed that Al only filled his own canteen once and never drank from it, but they didn't do anything about it expect exchange glances.

"Okay," Ed said, filling his own canteen for the seventh time. "I think I'm ready to go. We're only a couple of hours from the town now."

"I'm ready," Syaoran said, hoisting his pack on his back. He'd taken Sakura's too so she didn't have to carry it.

"Wait," Sakura said as everyone turned to leave. "We have to bring some water with us to the village."

"What? Why?" Ed said, whipping back around.

"They need water," Sakura said.

"Uh huh," Ed said, drawing his arms over his chest. "And how do you know that?"

"The same way I found out about the water was here in the first place," Sakura said earnestly. When everyone remained silent she pressed, "They need it very badly. We must bring some to them."

"Well," Fay said, putting his hand on his chin. "It goes to guess that if that oasis back there was dried up, the town's only source for water is gone too. They are probably desperately looking for a new source."

"Please?" Sakura said. "It doesn't have to be very much. Just enough to give to anyone who really needs it. Then we can tell them the location of this aquifer so they can come back and get more."

"But what are we going to carry it in?" Syaoran said.

"Could you transmute all our canteens together to create one big jar, Edward-san?" Fay asked.

"I could," Ed said. "But then we'd have nothing for ourselves. I have a better idea. Glass is just sand and heat, right?"

He walked off and few paces to a nearby sand dune, clapped his hands, and placed them in the side of the dune. The same reaction took place, spewing bolts of energy.

"There," Ed said, stepping back from a dusty-colored, warped glass jar. It came up just a little past Ed's knees. "It won't be put up in any church windows any time soon, but it'll hold water at least."

"It'll be heavy when you fill it, though," Syaoran said. "How are we going to carry it?"

"I can carry it," Al said. To demonstrate, he lifted the jar, filled it with water at the pump, and hoisted it onto his shoulder.

"Thank you Elric-san," Sakura said to Al. "I know that must be heavy."

"It's okay," Al said, looking down at Sakura over the jar. "If the village needs this water as badly as you say, I'm happy to help."

"Okay, everyone," Ed said. "Ready?"

"Ready!" everyone chimed.

Ed looked around and stuck a finger in his ear as everyone headed north. Al came up beside his brother.

"What is it, Nii-san?" Al asked, watching Ed clean out his ears.

"I thought I heard another voice say 'ready,'" Ed said. "It was high and squeaky and really… _cute_."

Al smiled with his eyes. "You must be tired."

"Must be…"


	5. Arcanum

A/N: First of all, I apologize for the delay. I moved out of the country and, as you can imagine, haven't had much time to write. Sorry! But, hey, this chapter still came out faster than chapter three, so there.

Secondly, before we go on, and I hate to do this, but I had to make a minor change to the last chapter so it'll fit into the storyline of this one. The changed part has to do with the ghost Sakura met who showed her the water source. Guh, this feels so cheap, but it's what I get for not planning chapter out properly. Anyway, here's what I've rewritten:

The man shook his head and stood. He smiled sadly. "I'm just so relieved you've come. It's all my fault the water's gone and I couldn't rest until the village doesn't suffer anymore. Please bring them some water to them, I beg you."

"I promise," Sakura said, nodding. As soon as she uttered the words, the hopeless feeling of terrible thirst began lifting from her.

"And, please, find Yuzuriha and tell her…" the ghost said as he faded away. "Tell her I regret everything. I lost control… I don't know what came over me! If she hates me, I understand, but you must tell her that I'm sorry. I can't die until she knows I'm sorry."

Sakura approached the ghost and put up a hand to brush a few gentle fingers against the fading outline of his face. She looked him in the eyes and said, "She will forgive you in time. At the very least, know that I can see the regret in your soul and I forgive you—for whatever terrible thing you have done."

The man sighed. The movement seemed to dry him out and he blew away on the desert wind.

"The embodiment of my regret…" the man's disembodied voice packed Sakura's ears like cotton. "It's still out there. Please be careful."

* * *

**Chaptire.V  
Arcanum**

"Is that the village we're looking for?" Fay asked, pointing towards the horizon where the faint outline of homes was appearing through the heat waves in the distance.

"What _other_ villages are out here, huh?" Kurogane said.

"Won't be long now," Ed said, mostly to himself.

"Are you okay, Elric-san?" Sakura asked Al, eyeing the jar of water on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about me," Al said, looking down at Sakura. His eyes smiled somehow. "I could do this all day."

Ed and Syaoran were in the lead with Al and Sakura just paces behind. A few feet back was Fay. Kurogane took up the end of the line.

"The first thing I'd like to do once we get back to civilization is take a long, cool bath," Fay said, trudging with his arms heavily at his sides. "I think I'm more sand than man at this point."

"I think I'll be sunburned for the rest of my life," Kurogane grumbled.

"I don't know—I feel kind of nostalgic," Sakura said quietly. She turned to Syaoran. "You were right about what you said when we first arrived here, Syaoran-kun. It really does remind me of home."

"You remember?" Syaoran asked.

Her gaze turned distant. "Well, I can remember lying on the sand for hours, talking to the sky," She placed her hand to her chest and closed her eyes. "It's such a warm memory."

Syaoran smiled. He also remembered lying on the sand, but he hadn't been talking to the sky…

His nostalgia ended abruptly, however, when a dark presence tugged at the edges of his perception. He stopped and held his arm out to keep Sakura from venturing into what he felt was rapidly becoming dangerous territory.

"Syaoran-kun?" Sakura said, looking up at Syaoran. "What's wrong?"

"I sense it too," Kurogane said, coming up behind Syaoran. "An evil presence lies in wait ahead."

"'An evil presence?'" Ed said, scoffing. He glanced sideways at Kurogane and pulled his arms over his chest. "Even you don't look cool enough to pull off a phrase like that."

"I don't see anything…" Al said, scanning the horizon.

The group was quiet and still for several long moments, Syaoran and Kurogane tensed for a fight.

"Are you sure you guys aren't just imagining—?"

Ed's bemused smile fell from his face when the ground in front of the group exploded, spewing sand in all directions. A shadow moved in front of the sun and, as the sand fell away, revealed a creature as if dramatically presenting some freak in a sideshow. It had the head and forelegs of a canine with gray fur, but from the waist down it had the green, scaly body of a snake as thick around as an oak tree trunk that coiled tightly on the sand below. It reared a few feet above their heads and made an unearthly sound like a cross between a hiss and a growl as it stared down at the group with glowing red eyes.

"Princess, stand back," Syaoran said, moving in front of Sakura.

"What is it?" Sakura said, staring up at the creature from over Syaoran's shoulder.

"It's a chimera," Al said darkly.

"It's a _what_?" Kurogane shouted, sword at the ready.

"There are only a few things that are truly forbidden in alchemy," Ed said. "One of the most deplorable is the transmutation of different living creatures into the same body. That's because they always turn out to be monstrosities like this."

"You mean someone _made_ that?" Syaoran said.

"Now you've seen the dark side of alchemy," Ed said.

The creature struck like a lightening bolt—with all the speed and accuracy of pouncing rattler, but the open maw and gnashing teeth of a rabid wolf. Al barely had time to sidestep the chimera's attack with the jar of water in hand before the thing had come around again for a second charge. It used its forepaws to dig into the sand and used its snake tail like a coil to spring forward with surprising speed for something so large.

Kurogane took a running leap and, with his sword held high, landed on top of the creature. He grabbed onto the fur of the creature's canine half and held tight as he stabbed his sword into the chimera's left eye. The creature thrashed and howled as Kurogane yanked his sword out, causing an arc of blood to spew from the wound. The chimera gave a last wild thrash that sent Kurogane hurtling back to the ground. He recovered quickly and backed up toward Al, sword in front of him at the ready.

The creature raised its head toward the sky, howled eerily, and dove back toward the sand. With supernatural strength and speed, it burrowed under the sand, wiggled inside to hole it had made and disappeared.

"It's still here…" Kurogane said as he tensely scanned the sand around them.The five guys had backed into a tight circle and faced outward with Sakura standing in the middle. Al turned around for a moment and set the jar of water on the ground next to Sakura.

"Keep it safe," Al told her.

Sakura nodded and moved closer to the jar to put a protective hand on it.

"Mokona," Syaoran said, tossing his words over his shoulder. "I need my sword."

"Who?" Ed began. Just when he was thinking he had everyone straight, somebody gets a nickname…

"Right-o!" Mokona said, leaping out of Sakura's arms and floating into the air surrounded by a golden glow. "Syaoran's sword, coming up!"

Ed and Al watched, mystified, as the little stuffed animal inhaled deeply, made a popping noise, and spit out a ball of light. The light drifted over to Syaoran before shaping itself into a sword and dropping into his open palm.

"Wha—!" Ed said, pointing wildly at Mokona (who was still floating and looking rather sheepish) with his jaw hanging open. Al, too, couldn't take his eyes off the little ball of white fur.

"No time," Kurogane said, shaking his head. "It's coming back."

The sand just a few feet away undulated like a wave in the ocean before the chimera jumped out and directly for the group. Everyone scattered except for Sakura who stayed crouched in front of the water with her arms spread wide. The chimera hesitated for only a moment as the group split up, and pounced again after Al.

"You're not the only ones with tricks up their sleeves, you know," Ed mumbled. He clapped his hands and ran his left palm over his right arm. As he did, metal sprouted from beneath his sleeve, turning his arm into a bayonet-style weapon.

"You continue to amaze, Edward-san," Fay said, grinning down at Ed's metal arm as he came up beside him. "Now we know how you got your nickname."

"You don't know the half of it," Ed said through a savage grin.

With a wild yell, he ran at the chimera and, as the thing came around for another charge at Al, managed to cut a deep gash all the way down the side of its left flank and straight through to the end of its tail.

"Won't be long now," Fay hollered. He was keeping his distance. "It's losing a lot of blood!"

Indeed, the creature's precision lighting-fast pounces were getting sloppy and ill-timed. After a failed attack at Al once again, the creature stopped and sniffed the air. Everyone tensed, weighing the odds of striking first versus countering an attack. Before anyone had time to take action, however, the chimera coiled on itself and sprang toward Sakura.

"Princess!" Syaoran yelled compulsively and charged after the creature.

"It's after the water!" Ed said, taking off towards Sakura. "Get away from the water!"

But Sakura only shook her head and turned her back on the creature and wrapping her arms around the jug, protecting the water with her body.

Syaoran was running so fast he thought he could feel the sand under his feet turn to glass, but he knew he'd never reach Sakura in time. He was making frantic calculations in his mind, but she was just too far away. He bit down hard on his lip until it began to bleed and cursed himself for straying so far from her.

Just as the chimera descended on Sakura's huddled form, Al side-stepped in front of her, leaned back, and brought a metal fist forward to connect smashingly against the side of the creature's jaw.

The force of Al's punch together with the force of the chimera's attack created an audible crack where fist and flesh connected. Teeth and bits of jawbone fell to the bloodstained sand below. The creature was so stunned by the attack that it didn't move for several seconds, which was more than long enough for Ed and Syaoran to reach the site. The rest happened very quickly.

Ed clapped, slapped his hands to the sand, and sent a stalactite of glass straight through the creature's already shattered maw. With the chimera held firmly in place like a worm on a hook, Syaoran jumped and, yelling savagely, severed the creature's head from its body in one clean uppercut with his sword.

The body slammed heavily to the sand and, after a few eerie twitches, lay quiet. The head morbidly slid down the cone of glass until the base got too wide and the head fell from the pillar like a piece of moldy wood unable to bare the weight of a nail driven through it.

It was a few minutes before anybody moved and several more minutes after that before anyone said a word.

Syaoran, closing the distance between himself and Sakura, was the first one to speak.

"Princess, are you alright?" he said, kneeling beside the Sakura and searching her for injuries with his eyes.

"I'm alright," Sakura nodded. She touched the jar of water tenderly. "You did it. You all saved the water."

"But saved it from what?" Kurogane said. He jerked a thumb in the direction of the creature behind him. "What did you call that thing again? A kimra?"

"Don't play dumb," Ed said. His eyes were dark and staring squarely at Mokona who was perched on Sakura's shoulder. "You people obviously know all about chimeras. I _knew_ there was something wrong with that thing since the moment I saw it."

"That must be what the Colonel was talking about, Nii-san," Al said, taking a few steps forward to peer at Mokona with wary curiosity. "The 'it.'"

"Mokona is not an it!" Mokona suddenly yelled with animated frustration. "Mokona is Mokona!"

Ed and Al jerked back a few feet and exchanged wary, unsettled glances.

"Nii-san…" Al said quietly. "It talks."

"Don't be upset, Mokona," Fay said, patting the puffball on the head. "They've just never seen anything like you before."

"Oh yes we have," Ed said. He was staring at the sand with his fists clenched. "We've seen talking chimeras before. And I can't imagine a bigger abomination of life and science."

"Mo-Mokona's a… an abomination?" Mokona said, big round purple eyes opening and filling with tears.

"Crap! Now look what you've done!" Kurogane shouted. "Do you have any idea how long it takes to shut this thing up once you get the waterworks started?"

"Edward-san, I must say," Fay said. "Those were some extremely harsh words."

Syaoran laid a hand on Mokona's head. "You're not an abomination, Mokona. You're a valuable member of our team. I don't know what we'd do without you."

Mokona sniffed, big eyes glistening. "Really?"

Sakura nodded and snuggled the little puffball close. "Of course. I think of you just like I think of anybody else. We love you like family, Moko-chan."

"Tch," Kurogane growled involuntarily. "Speak for yourself."

"So how did you make it?" Ed said, years of anger and loss pooling in his voice. "How many lives did you destroy to make a talking chimera?"

The group stared blankly back at him.

"I'm afraid we had no hand in the production process," Fay said finally. "We purchased Mokona from a woman named Yuuko some time ago."

"And Yuuko would never hurt anyone," Sakura said emphatically.

"Heh," Kurogane scoffed. "That woman is capable of anything."

"She'd never hurt anyone to create Mokona," Syaoran said, standing. "I don't know how you go about creating a chimera, but there's not a sinister bone in Mokona's whole body."

"Now that I think about it, it's too small to have been human, Nii-san," Al said.

"Yeah, that's what I was just thinking," Ed said. "Even an infant would be bigger than this thing. And then there's the added mass of whatever animal it was combined with." He spoke directly to Mokona, "So how did you learn to talk, fur ball?"

"It's a secret!" Mokona exclaimed. "One of one hundred and eight!"

Ed looked to the others for clarification, but no one had any answers.

"Mokona has many talents," Fay said, shrugging. "Being able to talk is one we think about the least, actually."

"Let me guess," Ed said, remembering his talk with Mustang. "One of those talents is locating alchemic amplifiers, huh?"

Fay grinned. "One of the most useful, actually. Mokona can sense the presence of the feather and acts as a beacon. We never would've gotten this far without that ability."

"I'd like to talk to this Yuuko person," Ed said. His eyes were still dark but thoughtful. "Ask her what kinds of things are involved in creating something like that."

"You may just get the chance," Fay said mysteriously. "But, trust me when I say that any information she gives will cost you dearly."

"Heh," Ed said, looking morbidly amused. He grabbed his right arm and his gaze turned distant. "Sometimes that's the only kind of information worth getting."

"So what should we do with this thing?" Kurogane said, lifting the head of the chimera and thrusting it forward. "Leave it?"

"We need to get the head and the body as far away from each other as possible," Ed said. "Chimeras are cursed creatures. They've been known to recover and attack again if left alone."

"The body's too big to drag, but we can take the head with us," Kurogane said, gathering up the hair on the head to make a better handhold. He grinned toothily. "Just like in the good old days. I used to take my trophies with me everywhere for weeks after I made a kill."

Fay came up behind Kurogane and clapped a hand on his shoulder. He grinned, "That's really, really gross Kuro-rin."

"Nii-san," Al said, pointing at the chimera's body where the dog became snake. "Look at how big the snake part is. Either the person who transmuted this found a really big snake…"

"Or violated the Law of Equivalent Exchange," Ed said, eyes flashing.

"Equivalent Exchange?" Syaoran echoed.

"One of the most basic rules of alchemy," Al said. "It states that the starting ingredients and ending product of anything alchemized must have the exact same properties."

"In this case," Ed continued. "We're talking about size. There's no way a snake that big could be found in the wild."

"How is it possible to ignore a natural law?" Syaoran said.

"It's not easy," Ed said. "But there are certain materials that can boost alchemic power. Some of them are perfectly legal, but the kind of power boost we're talking about here is, well…"

"Legendary," Al finished.

"You mean, legendary like the feather is legendary?" Fay said.

"Exactly," Ed said. "That's why we need to find whoever made this thing and beat some answers out of him."

"Edward-san," Sakura said, stepping forward. "The man who made this chimera is already dead."

Ed lifted an eyebrow at Sakura. "What? How do you know that?"

Sakura didn't answer, but looked helplessly at the rest of her group. "It's true. We won't get answers from the creator. But there's a woman in the village who might be able to help us. Her name is Yuzuriha. I need to speak with her."

Ed stared at her for a moment, then sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "And just how do you know _that_?"

Fay opened his grinning mouth, but Ed held up an arm to cut him off. "No, never mind. If you answer, I'm only going to get more confused. I've reached my limit of half-truths and metaphors for the day, alright? Let's just go."

Ed pointed east and the group began to trudge onward. Kurogane dragged the chimera head on the sand by a tuft of hair much in the way a toddler drags around his favorite teddy bear. Ed and Al took up the rear of the group, Al with the giant glass jar once again atop his metal shoulders.

"They're hiding more than just that Mokona thing, Al," Ed said quietly over the racquet Fay was making as he tried to get everyone to start singing a round. "Everything about them is suspicious, right down to their clothing."

"Nobody's without their secrets, Nii-san," Al said. "Just look at us."

"Yeah, well at least our secrets aren't endangering anybody's military careers," Ed said.

"Actually, technically they are," Al said. "You could be indicted at any time if someone discovered you practiced human transmutation. Colonel Mustang could be in loads of trouble too."

Ed glared at his brother. "Just whose side are you on?"

Al held up his hands, but his eyes were grinning. "I'm just saying that having secrets doesn't automatically equal malicious intentions. They don't seem like mean people, do they?"

"No," Ed admitted after a few moments of hesitant silence. "But I'm still not sure we can trust them. After all, I'm not trusting anyone who doesn't question the existence of something like that Mokona thing."

"What do you think it is?" Al said. "Do you still think it was created by alchemy?"

"I'm not really sure. But I don't think it's a chimera. Like you said before, Al," Ed said, hand on his chin. "It's just too small to be human."

Several feet ahead, Mokona sprang into the air.

"Right back at 'cha!" Mokona exclaimed, voice directed right at Ed.

"What did you say, you little fur ball?" Ed said, feeling heat rise to his face. He bounded forward. "I'm still about fifty times taller than you are! That's fifty times more pressure than your little body can take!"

"Tee-hee!" Mokona giggled and leapt towards Kurogane. "Kuro-wan, save me!"

Kurogane skirted out of the way so that Mokona landed on Fay's back instead of his. Then he turned around, baring a fist at Ed and Mokona. "Don't make me come over there! Stop fooling around! We're almost to the village, for crying out loud!"

"I think Kurogane is finally settling into his role as father, huh?" Fay said to Mokona, his grin so wide that it forced his eyes closed.

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

End Note: Okay, this story is slowly coming together in my head so I _do_ plan on finishing this thing someday. Please keep me motivated by sending me lots of reviews. I have a full-time job now that I'm out of college (and living in Japan to boot) so please be prepared to wait a bit between chapters. That being said, more reviews mean a faster update! Promise! Thanks for reading! 


	6. Reference Point

**Chaptire.VI  
Reference Point**

It wasn't long before the village appeared as a dot on the horizon. It was comprised of not more than a dozen or so sloppily constructed homes and a tiny town square. It looked more like a permanent camp than a town.

As the group neared the settlement, there was a visible flurry of activity among the inhabitants. The watchman began shouting from the tower posted at the entrance to the village. The group couldn't make out what he was saying, but soon a few people appeared at the gate and headed toward them.

"Looks like our arrival has caused quite a stir," Fay said.

"Oy!" one of the approaching villagers shouted. It took a while from the time the man began shouting until the sound actually reached the group. "Turn back! You'll find no shelter here! This village is cursed!"

The group stopped and everyone looked at each other for a moment.

"We seem to come across cursed things a lot," Kurogane said.

"We certainly do, don't we?" Fay said, smirking. "But usually not altogether by chance."

"It could mean there's a feather here," Syaoran said, narrowing his eyes. He turned to Mokona, who was still in Sakura's arms. "Mokona, what do you think?"

"It's faint," Mokona said. "But Mokona can sense the feather's energy."

"We have to get to that village, then," Ed said. He glanced at Mokona. "You better know what you're talking about, Rabbit Ears."

Mokona's only reply was shameless raspberry.

"Turn back!" the villager shouted again. "We haven't any water!"

"Is that all they're worried about?" Ed mumbled. Then he shouted back, "We've brought water!"

The three people stopped as if in shock, then bounded forward. One of them broke away to run back to the village.

"Oh, sweet, merciful God, you _do_ have water!" one man said as soon as he was close enough to see Al carrying the jar. "Please, are you willing to sell that? We'll pay any price! Our village desperately needs it! Our source dried up over a month ago and we've sent letters to the military, but we haven't received a reply."

"Yeah, well your first mistake was putting your faith in the military, stupid," the other man said, softly smacking the first man over the head.

Ed sighed and held up his pocket watch. "Edward Elric. State Alchemist."

"Are you here because of our letters?" the first man said, face brightening.

"Well," Ed said, bringing an arm up to scratch the back of his head. He smiled brightly. "We've got some water here…"

"We knew you were in trouble," Sakura said, stepping forward. "The water is for your village. You are welcome to all of it."

"And there's more where this came from," Ed said. "We can show you the aquifer we found that's just an hour or so from here."

The two men looked like they'd been cured of a fatal disease.

"Thank you, thank you!" the other villager said, stepping forward to shake Ed's hand vigorously. The other man began pulling Al in the direction of the village. "Please, follow us back as quickly as you can. Many in our village are very ill."

The group hurried after the two men who whooped and hollered "Water!" in the direction of the village. By the time they got to the entrance, there was a crowd of about fifteen or so people waiting for them and eying the jar Al was carrying as if it were made of solid gold. They cheered and surged forward as Al set the jar on the ground.

"There's plenty for everyone!" the villager who first spoke to Ed said as everyone tried to get to the jar first. He seemed to be in charge. "And these kind people also know the location of another aquifer nearby, so more water will be on its way soon!"

There was a collective gasp and some hugging and cheering from the villagers, then a bit of chaos as everyone fought to dip their cups into the jar. The leader regulated everyone as best he could, but the mob really wasn't violent—just thirsty.

"I hope you don't mind that I didn't tell them you're with the military," the leader told Ed in a low voice over the noise. "Some people here may not receive you too kindly."

Ed shrugged. "I get paid all the same."

As the leader turned back to the crowd, Al leaned down to Ed and whispered, "Besides, it's not like you're here on orders. If you were, the military would definitely want some recognition for saving an entire town from the brink of disaster."

Ed laughed through his nose. "Taking responsibility here would be a big mistake. The only people who would look at this as a success are the people who already have positive opinions of the military. Everyone else would just find some fault in the rescue." Ed leaned up against the wall and watched everyone scramble for a drink. "Nope, I'd much rather just be a regular guy here. A regular guy who just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"Well, maybe the military had a _little_ to do with it," Al said. "I mean, we wouldn't be out here at all if not for your orders."

"True," Ed said.

"And we never would've found the water without Sakura-san," Al said.

"We never would've been out here at all if not for them," Ed said bitterly. "We'd already be in Yous Well talking to Halling."

"And we would've completely overlooked this town and the possibility that the amplifier is here," Al said.

Ed gave a noncommittal grunt.

"Don't you think it's strange?" Al said. "Your charges have a real knack for stumbling across things. Especially Sakura-san. First she finds the water and then she predicts that the town will need it. How do you think she knew that?"

Ed shrugged and fell silent as he watched the four foreigners on the other side of the crowd help with the effort to distribute the water.

"I mean…" Al said. "Do you really think she can talk to ghosts?"

Ed shook his head. Whether he was answering Al's question or simply trying to clear his head was difficult to determine.

"Come on," he said. He started in the direction of where Syaoran and the rest of the group were standing. "We shouldn't leave them alone. It'll give them a chance to talk like we just did. I don't want them plotting anything behind our backs."

As Ed and Al joined the spot where the other four were standing, an odd quiet fell over the village as everyone drank their fill. Meanwhile, Ed, Syaoran and everyone took a moment to look over the village itself.

It seemed to be a hastily-built settlement that had once been just one or two homes, but gained several more inhabitants as the years went by. There were a little over a dozen homes, all mudstone and thatched roofs, sitting in a loose circle with a bright red brick town square in the middle. A 10-foot-high brick wall bordered the town on all sides with a heavy wooden gate at the entrance and a rickety wooden watchtower stood to the left of the entrance behind the wall. The village had been built on a plateau of rock in the desert, so the ground was packed dirt, not sand.

"Our little village isn't much," the leader said, coming up to the group, wiping water from his mouth. "But it's home. I settled it five years back with my son because I wanted out of the city and away from the politics. Little by little, people passing through just never left. Had to fight off a couple of bad seeds once or twice, but most travelers were good people."

"Why is your village so far from the old aquifer?" Syaoran asked, intrigued at the idea of someone founding a new town. "Usually people settle closer to their water source."

"That oasis was known to marauders and thieves as well as caravans and the military," the man said. "I wanted away from all of that, so I made sure my village was far off. I used horses and a cart to bring in water every week. It was a long trip, but I thought it was worth it."

"What are you doing asking ridiculous questions like that?" Ed grumbled to Syaoran, pushing his way to the front of the group. He swiped the chimera's head away from Kurogane with his right hand and set it heavily at the man's feet. "What do you know about _this_?"

"Now that…" the man said. He took a step back and stared at the head as if it were going to leap up and bite him. "That is something I hoped to never see again."

"Did you make it?" Ed said, his tone sharp.

"No, I didn't," the leader said. He lowered his eyes.

"But you know who did, don't you?" Ed said. "Spit it out! Who did this?"

The man was silent as he stared at the sand.

"Please," Syaoran said. "We need to know—"

"Inuki!"

Six heads turned in the direction of the voice. A tall girl with very short black hair longer on her right side than he left and black eyes was running over to where they stood, her gaze locked onto the head lying on the sand. When she got close, she kneeled down beside the head and smoothed out the fur behind its ears.

"Yuzuriha…" Sakura said softly. The girl didn't seem to hear her.

_This is the same girl we met in Otou Country_, Syaoran thought. _The one with the dog._ He looked down at the head. _I guess she had a dog in this world too_.

After a few moments of silence, Yuzuriha looked up at the group. "What happened?"

"We killed it," Kurogane said. "It attacked us and went after the water."

Yuzuriha shook her head and stood, wiping her tears away. "I'm so sorry. Inuki was such a good dog before…" she paused and looked on the verge of tears again. Then she said, "Was anyone hurt?"

"No," Al said. "Everyone's okay."

"But just barely," Ed said. He struck his finger down, pointing at the head. "Did _you_ transmute this thing?"

"Me? No!" Yuzuriha said, looking outraged. "I would never mutilate Inuki like that. It was—" her gaze skipped to the village leader and the she looked at the ground. "Somebody else."

"You did it?" Ed said, whirling on the village leader. Ed had suddenly assumed a great air of authority and his State Alchemist pocket watch glinted in the sunlight.

"It was my son," the leader said, unable to look Ed in the eyes. "Bernd."

"But we don't know where he went. Last time we saw him, he was leaving the village with that monstrosity he transmuted from Inuki," Yuzuriha said. "They went looking for water."

"Please," Syaoran said. "Tell us everything you know about the person who hurt your dog. It's very important."

"Your son," Al said, turning to the village leader. "Was he an alchemist?"

"Bernd has always been fascinated with alchemy," the leader said. "He'd applied for the State Alchemist exam for the past three years, but never got past the interview. He wants to be an alchemist more than anything, but, truth be told, he just doesn't have what it takes."

As the leader trailed off with his story, Yuzuriha picked it up again. "But one day his alchemy got really, really good. Just like that. Suddenly he was transmuting statues out of aluminum cans and creating houses from sand. It was amazing! There was no way he'd fail the State Alchemist exam when he could do all that stuff. But, I could tell something was happening to him. Something changed about him. He got irritable and distant. When we ran low on water, he volunteered to go out to the aquifer alone and refill our supply. He came back lugging more water than we've ever seen at once out here. He said he'd been able to tap the aquifer and that we'd never run out of water again."

"A damn fool he was," an older villager said, coming up behind the Yuzuriha. "And damn fools we were for believing him!"

The leader cast his eyes to the ground and didn't say anything.

Yuzuriha looked to Sakura with watery eyes. "You don't understand. Water is so precious to us here. When he came back with all that, well, we got excited…"

"You wasted it," Ed said.

Yuzuriha nodded to the ground. "We planted more gardens, we took long baths, we drank it down in celebration like alcohol… We just thought there'd be more. But when we went back out to the oasis, we found that Bernd-kun had completely dried the aquifer."

"We had only enough to last us a couple of weeks," the other villager said. "So we went out and searched the desert for another aquifer. The smart ones took their rations and left for the city right away, but most of us were determined to find another source without running to the city for our first crisis."

"You could tell Bernd-kun felt guilty," Yuzuriha said. "He was the most dedicated out of all of us to find water. He left the village for days at a time and still drank the least."

"But the more desperate we became, the more irritable and volatile Bernd's mood got," the other villager said.

"Guilt will do that to a person," Ed said.

"But he'd never acted that way in his life!" the leader said. "He's a gentle boy and he loved that dog like his own."

"It's true," Yuzuriha said, her eyes filling with tears again. "Bernd-kun really loved Inuki almost half as much as I did. So when he asked to go out into the desert with Inuki to find water, I thought it was a fine idea. After all, Inuki could find anything.

"But… dogs aren't made for the desert. So when Inuki started to get tired out there, Bernd-kun… h—he…."

"He snapped," the other villager said. "Raving about snakes and their stamina out in the desert, he took the dog and a snake and transmuted them together."

"I've never seen alchemy like that in all my life," the leader said, his face going pale.

"What, animal transmutation?" Ed said.

"Well, there's that," the village leader said. "But also the way he did it…"

"It was the Devil, that," the older villager said. "I know a little about alchemy. And that weren't no natural thing Bernd did. No, sir. It was evil."

Having heard enough, Ed abruptly plucked Mokona from Sakura's arms by the ears and, as if he had shoplifted something and was trying not to be noticed, calmly walked off to a deserted corner of the village.

"Moko-chan!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Nii-san!" Al said over Sakura's outcry. "You can't do that! It's rude!"

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Kurogane thundered, stomping off in Ed's direction. "You can't go around taking stuff that doesn't belong to you!"

"You make it sound like Mokona belongs to _you_, Kuro-tan," Fay said, bouncing after Kurogane.

"Well_I_ paid for the pork bun!" Kurogane said over his shoulder.

Sakura moved to follow, but Syaoran put a gentle hand on her shoulder to hold her back.

"Don't worry, we'll get Mokona back," Syaoran said. He nodded towards the village leader and Yuzuriha. "In the meantime, didn't you have something you wanted to say to these people?"

Sakura smiled softly. "Yes. Thank you."

Syaoran moved off as Sakura turned around to face the two people.

"I have something I need to tell you," Sakura said. She looked right into the village leader's eyes when she said, "About Bernd-san."

Sakura felt her heart pang as she watched the man's face fall and go pale. He swallowed. Yuzuriha shifted on her feet and stared at the ground.

"Do you have somewhere private where we could talk?"

Syaoran watched from a distance as the village leader lead Sakura and Yuzuriha into one of the larger mudstone homes. The heavy curtain that served as the home's front door fell across the entrance. Syaoran jogged the rest of the distance to where Al, Kurogane, and Fay were standing around Ed who was questioning Mokona.

"So," Ed was saying. He had pulled Mokona up by the ears so they were staring eye-to-eye. Mokona remained silent and motionless. "You heard what that guy said, right? That's the work of an alchemic amplifier if I've ever heard one. The feather has to be around here somewhere, right? Right?"

"Nii-san," Al said disapprovingly. "Pulling it up by the ears is probably painful."

"How would you feel if we strung you up by your ears, Edward-san?" Fay said.

"I'd like to see you try it," Ed said. He held Mokona out to Fay. "Here. Ask it about the feather."

Ed set Mokona into Fay's hands and the little while puff ball instantly came to life.

"Fay!" Mokona said, ears twitching. "The feather isn't here."

"_What_?" Ed said. "You said it was!"

"Mokona sensed the feather's energy," Mokona said. "It's everywhere. It's inside the buildings, it's under the sand. The power was used here for a long time, but the feather is gone now."

"Can you tell where it went?" Syaoran asked.

Mokona nodded and raised a paw to point out into the desert in the direction opposite the way they had come. "That way."

"What's that way, Edward-san?" Fay asked, peering into the distance as if he squinted hard enough, he could see anything but sand.

"Yous Well," Ed said. "We were headed there in the first place."

"That's a good sign, Nii-san," Al said. "Maybe Halling will have some information."

"I hope so," Ed said. "Answers would be a nice change of pace."

"So what's the plan now?" Kurogane said. "Travel until nightfall and then set up camp?"

"Honestly, I was hoping for a quiet respite after nearly dying," Fay said. "Twice."

"The village leader seems like a nice man," Al said. "He'll probably let us stay in town for the night."

"Hopefully with a meal or two," Ed said, holding his stomach.

"So it's settled," Syaoran said. "We'll stay here for the night and then head for Yous Well in the morning."

There was an awkward pause as everyone simply stood around without a clear idea of what to do next.

"Where's Sakura-san?" Al asked suddenly, piercing the silence.

"She wanted to talk to the village leader and Yuzuriha-san," Syaoran said.

"About what?" Ed said, cocking an eyebrow.

"She probably wanted to tell them about Bernd," Syaoran said.

"By herself?" Al said, staring out at the house that Sakura had gone into. "I don't know if I would have the courage to tell a complete stranger that his missing son is dead."

"I wouldn't be surprised if the man actually thanks us for the information," Fay said, grinning. "Sakura-chan is that good."

Syaoran smiled. "She's very good at understanding people's feelings. There's no one else that I'd rather hear bad news from."

Al found himself staring at Syaoran as he said this. Syaoran was smiling, but the tone of his words seeped into his face to make the expression indescribably sad.

Al had never given a thought to everyone's relationship to each other until that moment.

And as the expression disappeared from Syaoran's face, Al got the feeling that it was probably complicated.

Very complicated.

* * *

The group made their way to the house Syaoran had seen the village leader take Sakura and Yuzuriha to. It was slow going. Every couple of feet, the group was stopped by a villager who would thank them emphatically for the water. Most were content with a simple "you're welcome," but a few wanted details of their trip and the reason they happened to be passing through. Fay's excellent people skills came in very handy at this point and he only required a few interjections from Syaoran and Al to get everyone off their backs. Ed and Kurogane were perfectly content to stand to the side of the group and let the three handle this particular aspect.

Nearly twenty minutes later, the group finally reached the village leader's home. After listening briefly to make sure they weren't dropping in at a crucial moment in the conversation, Fay gently knocked on the wood plank beside the home's entrance.

"Excuse me," Fay called. "We're not interrupting, are we?"

"Of course not," the village leader's voice sounded from inside. "Please come in."

The five people entered the small home to find the village leader, Yuzuriha, and Sakura seated at a table against the far wall by a window. Sakura smiled at the group as they filed into the small space. She was holding Yuzuriha's hand as the dark-haired girl blotted her eyes with a cloth napkin. The village leader's face was streaked with dried tears, but he got up from the table as everyone entered and gave them a deep nod of his head.

"Sakura-san told us what you did for Bernd in his last moments," the man said, taking a few steps toward the group. He held out his hand to Ed. "Thank you."

Sakura gave the group and meaningful nod as if to say, "We _did_ help. Play along."

"Erm," Ed said, awkwardly accepting the man's hand. "You're welcome?"

"We're only sorry we couldn't do more," Fay said, taking his turn at shaking the man's hand.

The man shook his head as he shook Syaoran and Kurogane's hands in turn. "Bernd was too far gone by then. The power of that talisman corrupted him."

"Talisman?" the five said at the same time.

The man nodded. "Sakura-san said you're looking for it so you can destroy it. I hope with everything in me that you can. I don't want one more life to be tainted by that thing."

"It was a feather, right? A white feather with pink markings?" Syaoran said eagerly.

"That's right," the man said. "I only saw it once because Bernd guarded it so closely, but one time was enough to engrave the image in my mind. Whatever that thing is, it doesn't belong in this world."

"Where did he get it from?" Ed said, stepping forward. He'd taken on his authoritative interrogation stance again. It would have been laughable if he weren't so serious.

"A couple of merchants came through here a few months ago," the man said. "A really attractive woman and this stocky little bald guy who didn't seem all there, you know? Everything they had to offer was absolutely worthless, but Bernd found the feather right away. The couple sold it to him for much more than I thought my son had and then they left. That's when Bernd began acting strange."

"Where is the feather now?" Al asked. "You must have some idea."

"Bernd took it with him, of course," the man said. "I would've thought if you would find it anywhere, you would've found it with his—his body."

"It wasn't there," Syaoran said. "We would've known."

"Which means it was probably stolen," Ed said, hand on his chin. "I wonder if he really did just die of exposure."

"The desert winds are brutal," Kurogane said. "It could've flown away after the corpse began rottin—"

Fay stepped on Kurogane's foot as Bernd's father cast a devastated look to the ground.

"We'll continue to look for the talisman, sir," Syaoran said to fill the silence.

"And we'll do everything we can to make sure it doesn't hurt anyone else," Al added. "We may even know where to search next."

"Really?" Sakura said from her seat at the table next to Yuzuriha.

"We recently received some very reliable information from our sources," Fay said, raising Mokona slightly in his arms as if simply shifting his balance. "And we now have a fresh lead."

"That's very good news. I wish you Godspeed," The village leader said. "But I insist you stay the night here. I'm offering lodging, of course. It's the least I can do after everything you've done. And then in the morning, if you don't mind, you can show me where this new water source is before heading back out."

Syaoran smiled wearily. "Thank you. It's been a very long trip and we're all pretty tired."

"And we haven't eaten in days," Ed said pointedly.

"Well, we don't have much after the drought," the village leader said. "But I'm sure we can find something for you all. Come on. The next house over is a guest house for those passing through. I'll get you settled."

The man held the curtain over the entrance open and Fay, Al, Kurogane, and Ed stepped through. Syaoran waited for Sakura as she slowly rose from the table, giving Yuzuriha's hand a friendly squeeze before letting go.

"Thank you so much Sakura-chan," Yuzuriha said, folding the damp cloth napkin neatly onto the table. "Bernd-kun was like a brother to me. It's really comforting to know that at least he… died," she paused and swallowed the words. "He died in his right mind."

"And he was relieved to find someone to pass on his message," Sakura said, smiling sadly. "I don't think he could have rested in peace if he couldn't somehow apologize to you."

"Promise me you'll find that feather," Yuzuriha said, her expression pleading. "It tears me up to think that it's still out there somewhere, waiting for someone else to come along."

Sakura nodded. "We'll find it and make sure it doesn't hurt anyone ever again. I promise."

Yuzuriha nodded. "I know I can trust you."

Sakura smiled and then headed for the door. As she turned her back to Yuzuriha, the smile on her face disappeared, replaced by a heaviness that sank into the corners of her eyes and mouth…

And right into Syaoran's soul.

"Don't leave tomorrow without letting me say goodbye," Yuzuriha called as Syaoran lifted the curtain over the entrance for Sakura.

Sakura replaced the smile on her face. "I won't."

She waved and then stepped onto the other side of the curtain. Syaoran followed her.

"Syaoran-kun," Sakura said, once the two were out of Yuzuriha's earshot. "This is so awful. Yuzuriha-chan and the village leader just kept talking about what a nice, wonderful person Bernd was. It was like his personality completely changed the moment he touched the feather—my feather."

She looked at Syaoran, squinting her eyes against the sun. "I feel like it's all my fault."

Syaoran shook his head vigorously. "No. Never think that. There isn't an evil molecule in your entire body, Princess. People are responsible for their own actions no matter what the circumstances. There is nothing in this world—or any world for that matter—that can make a person do something against his will."

"You really believe that?" Sakura said.

"I do," Syaoran said. "People are complicated, that's all. We don't really know anything about this Bernd person's mind. The feather could've simply given him the means to do all the terrible things he's ever wanted to do."

"Still," Sakura said, lowering her voice as they got nearer to the house where Al's metal body could be seen sticking half-way out the entrance. "I'll feel so much better once we can get this feather back. I was being completely honest when I promised Yuzuriha-chan that I wouldn't let the feather hurt anyone else."

She paused and nodded deeply to herself. "I will never let anyone use my feathers to amplify their alchemy if I can help it. There is no reason great enough to go against the laws of nature. Right?"

The two caught Al's attention as they approached the guest house. Al waved to them and Sakura waved back.

"I certainly can't think of any reason good enough," Syaoran said.

* * *

"Syaoran… Syaoran!"

The small voice cut through the darkness in the guest house like a beam of light.

"Mokona," Syaoran said blearily. In between his words he listened to the sounds of everyone else sleeping soundly in the beds around him. "What is it?"

"There was a huge burst of energy from Sakura's feather just now," Mokona said. Syaoran's eyes had adjusted just enough to see a big white blob sitting on top of his stomach.

Syaoran sat up and Mokona hopped off his stomach. "Where? Close by?"

"No, very far away," Mokona said. "Farther than it was before."

Syaoran sighed. "Then I guess there's not much we can do about it now. Let's just go back to sleep so we can be well-rested for tomorrow."

"Would you rather not have known about it?" Mokona asked with a voice that sounded like a six-year-old on the verge of tears.

"No, of course not," Syaoran said, patting Mokona on the head. "I want you to tell me everything you feel about the feather no matter what, okay? Even if you have to wake me up in the middle of the night. Even if there's nothing we can do about it. I always want to know."

"Okay," Mokona said, waddling back up onto Syaoran's pillow to get comfortable right next to the boy's head. "I'm glad you wanted to know because the feeling was very scary."

"Scary?" Syaoran repeated.

Syaoran could feel Mokona nod.

"Something really terrible just happened somewhere."

"Terrible things happen all the time everywhere," Ed grumbled from the darkness. "Get over it and go back to sleep. We'll deal with it in the morning."

* * *

End note: Sorry about this crazy "Bernd" guy and the lack of other _X_ characters along with Yuzuriha (oh, and the unexpected character death—I just realized it this second that I had crossed that line.) I claim the right to blame writer's block. This really isn't one of those chapters I'm particularly proud of, character-wise. However, this is an extra-long chapter, so I hope you're not too angry with me… Please review! 


	7. Across the Golden Gate

A/N: I know, yet another chapter completely out of the blue after months of nothing. Sorry, but other writing projects have taken precedence over fanfiction. Also, I have that job thing. However, this is another long chapitre, so rejoice!

As for this story, I'm trying to get to the action as soon as possible and this chapter is a leap forward in that. My original goal was to stave off the coming plot twist in pursuit of character development, but now I'm pretty confident that I can have my cake and eat it too. Yay cake!

This chapitre has a slow start, but I think the ending totally rocks. Let me know if you agree (or don't!)

* * *

**Chapitre.VII  
Across the Golden Gate**

As agreed the night before, the village leader awoke everyone just before dawn and they set out for the aquifer. Yuzuriha and another villager were waiting for them at the village's entrance. The young villager was holding the reins to a couple of Arabian horses harnessed to a sled-like cart loaded with two large metal drums.

Sakura ran ahead to greet Yuzuriha and the two headed out first, walking side-by-side in silence. Syaoran followed close behind. Ed and Kurogane took up the rear while the rest of the group walked somewhere in the middle, spread out over several yards.

Conversation beyond pleasantries ("Did you sleep well?" "It's quite cold before the sun rises, isn't it?") was strained, especially as they got closer to the aquifer—and the resting place of Bernd's remains. As the dusky sandstone water pump that marked the aquifer's location appeared on the horizon, Sakura watched the village leader's steps sink deeper and deeper into the sand. It was as if the man was unconsciously trying to root himself at the spot and go no farther.

But no matter how much his body protested, his heart seemed to move him forward. The time it took to travel to the aquifer seemed only a fraction of the time it took to travel from it. Yuzuriha stopped a few yards from the spot as if her brain had shut off.

"The bones are just beyond the pump at the foot of that rock face," Al said quietly.

"We'll wait for you here," Sakura said, briefly squeezing Yuzuriha's hand in encouragement.

"Take all the time you need," Syaoran said. "We'll stay here until dusk if you want."

The village leader nodded numbly and started forward. Yuzuriha followed uncertainly. The two became vague blobs of shadow in the distance. Echoing sobs were carried to them on the desert wind, hitting them with a blast of hot air, then rocketing on past and out into the emptiness.

Time stretched on. After standing in the intensifying desert heat for half an hour, Ed expected at least one of his charges to begin complaining. And after an hour had gone by in complete silence, he found himself stealing glances at their expressions.

Not one of them, save the villager leaning against the cart and picking at the sand under his fingernails, looked remotely impatient or irritable. Fay was sitting on the ground, tracing lazy circles in the sand while cupping his chin in his hand and staring unfocused into the horizon. Syaoran was standing with clenched fists and watching individual sand particles get pushed around by the breeze. Sakura had her watery gaze fixed on the location of Bernd's remains with her right hand in a fist over her breastbone. Kurogane was standing with his arms crossed and his back to them all.

It took Ed several stolen glances to finally recognize the looks in their eyes. It was grief. Unbearable, irredeemable grief. But for Bernd? It couldn't be. Not even the girl could possibly feel that much emotion for a man they had never met.

No, this was personal. Each one of them had lost someone close, someone precious. A sibling or a parent…

Ed squeezed the skin between his eyes as if trying to stop the thoughts from leaking from his brain. But when he looked back up to the place where the two shadows moved uncertainly back and forth, the scene blurred and then focused crystal clear to show his mother's grave. The two shadows became a much younger version of himself and a flesh-and-blood Al. Ed let out a sharp breath as he realized he'd forgotten what color Al's eyes were. In his mind's eye, they were a softly glowing white, like the color of Al's soul that shone out from behind his armor.

_No…_ Ed thought. _Al's eyes were the same color as mine, right? Wait, they could've been the same color as mom's. And mom's were… Mom's were…_

Green. He remembered because he saw the light in them go out. The way they faded from emerald to a muddy jade as her pupils dilated as if to take in the whole world before her life dwindled away to nothing.

In a hand he no longer had, he could feel his mother's squeezing weakly and then going limp as her eyes turned muddy.

Amber. Amber eyes?

Ed shook himself out of his daze. He was staring blindly right into Syaoran's scrutinizing gaze before he came to his senses. The boy was looking at Ed with a mixture of suspicion, curiosity, and something else…

Was it sympathy?

"Why don't you try staring at the sun?" Ed snapped. "It'll cause you less physical harm in the long run."

Syaoran continued to stare for half a beat before tracing Ed's prior gaze back to the place where Bernd's bones lay. Ed cursed himself for letting his mind wander, but felt vindicated for gleaning the little he did off his charges when their guards were down.

Equivalent Exchange after all. At least they were all back on an even playing field now.

The shadows slid from the village leader and Yuzuriha as they walked back toward the group like they were pulling off dark blankets.

"It really was Bernd," the village leader said quietly once he got close enough, his voice heavy and wet. He held up a tarnished silver pocket watch. "Bernd carried this with him everywhere to remind him of his goal to become a State Alchemist. He said he wanted to get used to the weight…"

There was a moment of silence before the other villager said carefully, "What should we do with the body?"

"We can't bury him here," Syaoran said. "His remains might seep into the sand and contaminate the water supply."

"Besides, there isn't much left now," the man said. He walked over to the cart and pulled out a small burlap bag as tears leaked from his eyes. "I'll put his bones in here and give him a proper burial back home." He looked at the bag and then rubbed his face vigorously with his empty hand. "Dear God. I never thought I'd be loading my boy's bones into a bag."

"We'll help you," Al said, his armor clanking as he stepped forward. Sakura nodded vigorously.

The man sighed. "Thank you, but this is something I'd rather do on my own. In the meantime, though, you all can start filling those drums."

And so the group set to work. The village leader squatted not yards from them and sobbed unabashedly with each bone he set into the sack. An electric current seemed to run through Sakura with each cry and Al watched her out of the corner of his vision as the group set the drums under the sandstone pump.

The two drums took little over an hour to fill to the brim and the work was exhausting. However, with nine people alternating between pumping, they were able to keep from getting too fatigued as the rising sun burned down on them.

"Sakura-san, let me take over," Al said to the girl as her face turned red with the effort of putting all her weight on the handle to make it go down.

"We're—each—doing—fifty—pumps," Sakura said breathlessly between heaves. "I can do it."

Syaoran smiled just slightly. Trying to stop Sakura from being helpful was like trying to keep the sun from rising.

"There now, Kuro-rin," Fay said, gesturing at Sakura. "That's how you should be doing it."

"What are you babbling about?" Kurogane grumbled.

"I just think your turn at the pump was a little weak," Fay said. "See how Sakura puts her whole back into it? Imagine how fast we'd fill these drums if you would give it all you have."

Kurogane gritted his teeth. "Open your eyes. I've been filling those drums faster than anyone. Just watch."

Kurogane stomped up to take Sakura's place as the girl wiped her brow and stepped away from the pump.

He took the handle and set to work.

"Good old Kuro-sama," Fay whispered to Syaoran. "He just took my turn."

Mokona giggled discreetly from Fay's arms.

The sun was high above them once the group had finished filling the two drums. Presently the village leader wandered over to them with the canvas bag in hand, the bones making _tock-tock_ noises as they rattled inside no matter how tightly the man gripped the bag.

"Ready to go when you are," the young villager said to the village leader.

The man nodded. "We've been out quite long enough, haven't we?"

"No one's complaining," Yuzuriha said, smiling wearily.

"Thank you all so very much," the man said. He grabbed the reins of the horses and started toward the horizon. "Let's go."

Ed and Al walked on one side of the cart, Syaoran, Sakura, Kurogane, and Fay on the other. No one said much and in the silence they could hear Bernd's bones shifting in the bag as if amplified a million times.

The village leader, after staring at the pocket watch for nearly a mile, slowed his pace to fall in line beside Sakura.

"I'd like you to have this," he said, pushing the silver watch into Sakura's hands.

"Oh, no. We should bury it with Bernd-san," Sakura said, looking pained. "He cherished it."

The man shook his head. "Bernd never became a State Alchemist. Burying him with the watch would be like trapping him with his failure. Besides, I don't think I want to put anything in his grave that is related to alchemy. Not after what happened."

"Then you keep it," Sakura said. "As a symbol of Bernd's purest intentions."

The man shook his head vigorously at this, his eyes wide. "I can't even glance at the thing without thinking of the look in Bernd's eyes the last time I saw him. All I remember is that look and this thing glinting off the sun…"

He shivered as if trying to shrug off invisible arms. "I just need to get rid of it," he looked into Sakura's eyes. "You understand, don't you? I need to get rid of it, but I can't destroy it and I can't sell it. It wouldn't be right."

"Sounds like you're trying to _unload_ it," Kurogane said. "Unloading it onto somebody else so you don't have to face your guilt."

The words had obviously stuck a vein with the man, but he didn't respond to Kurogane. "Please, it means nothing to you. Take it as payment for everything you've done for us. Once it's yours, you can do anything you want with it. Sell it, take it apart, or bury it in the desert for all I care. Just take it. I beg you."

Sakura was now holding the pocket watch like it weighed a million pounds. She nodded as if it took all her strength. "I'll take it. But not because it means nothing."

The village leader sagged as if releasing the tension in every single muscle in his body. "It may be small and tarnished, but it'll still be worth something if you sell it."

The man took Sakura's hands and thanked her emphatically before moving back to take the reins of the horses once again.

Fay lifted the pocket-watch out of Sakura's hands by the chain and examined it. "Well, it may not get us much money, but it's certainly worth its weight in guilt."

"What a coward," Kurogane grumbled. "I don't understand why you took it. I wouldn't of."

"I couldn't let him look like that," Sakura said, tucking the pocket-watch away. "If taking this would lessen his burden… it's the least I can do."

From the other side of the cart, Ed and Al exchanged glances.

"What does she have to feel guilty about?" Ed whispered.

"I can't imagine Sakura-san being guilty of _anything_," Al said. "Maybe… maybe she just feels bad about not getting here in time to get the feather?"

"Maybe," Ed said. "But I get the feeling that we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg here, Al. We don't have the whole picture. Not yet."

* * *

"We'll meet again, right?" Yuzuriha said, gripping Sakura's hand.

Sakura nodded, smiling. "I know we will. Somewhere, someday."

"Thank you all," The villager leader said, stepping forward to shake hands with each of the six visitors in turn. "I just can't say it enough. I'm really grateful you happened through here. Running into you six is the only good thing that's happened to this little town for weeks. In many ways, you are our saviors."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Ed said as he turned on his heel and started walking away. "Come on, Al."

"Nii-san…" All said disapprovingly. He turned to the village leader. "I like your village, sir. Please look after it. I think it's a place worth protecting."

"I agree," Fay said. "Not enough people want out of the big cities these days. Your dream is a good one."

"It's the dream of everyone here," the village leader said. "And I'll protect this place until my dying day, make no mistake."

The six of them shook hands with the villagers that had come to see them off and then turned towards the east—towards Yous Well—once they got their bearings. Sakura and Yuzuriha waved to each other for almost half an hour until the village finally became nothing but a shimmer on the horizon behind them. When they were out of sight, Mokona leaped out of Sakura's arms, onto Kurogane's head ("WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"), and from there to Syaoran's right shoulder.

"Syaoran," Mokona whispered after some more time had passed. "We're heading in the direction of the place where Mokona felt the big explosion of energy last night. It's getting stronger."

"Do you think the feather is still there?" Syaoran asked.

Mokona's eyes squeezed shut as the puff ball concentrated hard. "Mmm… Mokona can't tell. The energy is so strong. Either the feather is there or—"

"Or," Ed interjected, making Mokona jump. "The energy used last night was explosive enough to cover the feather's residual trail."

"You have very good hearing, Edward-san," Fay said, grinning.

Ed said glared at Fay. "You don't think I'm going to listen in on a whispered conversation after an hour of complete silence?"

"Does this mean that we're losing the feather's trail?" Al asked, drifting from Ed to move closer to Sakura's side of the group.

"It's been known to happen," Fay said. "But we have a definite lead. So we go where Mokona can feel the feather's energy and hopefully get our bearings from there."

"But how does it feel the feather?" Ed said, getting close to Syaoran to look at Mokona. Syaoran was several inches taller than Ed, so Syaoran's shoulder was exactly level with Ed's line of vision. "Is it like a hunting dog? You give it a sniff of whatever you want it to find and it picks up a trail?"

Mokona turned slowly and struck poses as if in a fashion show as Ed scrutinized every hair.

"No, it doesn't work like that at all," Syaoran said. "Mokona can sense a lot of different types of energy."

"The feather's energy is very big," Mokona said, flicking an ear out like a woman tossing her hair over her shoulder. "It's easy to feel."

"And you can store things inside it," Ed said, staring into Mokona's mouth. "How does that work?"

"Never asked," Kurogane said. "When I need my sword, I have it. When I don't need it, it gets stored away. I don't ask questions about things that benefit me."

"Well, you got to know where it goes," Ed said, turning to Mokona. "So? What do you do with the stuff you swallow?"

"They go to the Gate," Mokona said.

Ed stopped walking and stood there, eyes wide. It was if he'd just seen the sun shatter into a million pieces and fall onto the horizon, revealing the entire world to be a soundstage.

"Nii-san?" Al said.

"Gate?" Ed said, breathless. "Gate to where?"

Syaoran had stopped walking now, too. Mokona turned around to face Ed.

"The Gate goes to wherever you want," Mokona said. "As long as you pay the price."

"Can it…" Ed asked, his voice was careful and slow. "Does the Gate lead to the truth? Are we talking about the same one?"

"Nii-san, what are you talking about?" Al said. "What truth? What gate?"

"You _can_ find truth in the Gate," Mokona said, plunging on. "The Gate leads to many things, but is only available to those who ask for it and those who are willing to sacrifice for it. That is the one and only way to truth."

Syaoran blinked, and then exchanged glances with Fay. Kurogane was glaring at Mokona, but Sakura was smiling a little.

The words weren't Mokona's. Mokona said them forcefully enough, but they had a scripted air. Someone had coached Mokona to give this speech.

And the four of them could almost hear Yuuko's voice in Mokona's words. The effect was mesmerizing.

For Ed and Al, however, it was downright eerie. The creature seemed like it was possessed and speaking words that came from another world. Ed felt a chill spill down his spine like someone had poured ice water down his back—a strange sensation under the burning desert sun.

"Nii-san!" Al said, placing a hand on Ed's shoulder and shaking hard. Finally, Ed tore his gaze off Mokona and looked up at Al, blinking. "What is this all about? _What gate_?"

Ed glanced over at the four people and Mokona staring back at him, painfully aware of their undivided attention. He wanted to tell everyone to just shut up and keep walking, but knew Al wouldn't stand for it.

"I saw the Gate, Al," Ed said, speaking loudly enough so he hoped the others wouldn't think it was too big of a secret. "The night we tried—the night I lost my arm. And I saw… everything… inside before it slammed shut. Every answer to every question ever was in there. I thought if only I could get the door to open again, just for a moment…"

"But it didn't open again, did it?" Fay said.

Ed snapped his head in the direction of Fay's voice and glared. "No, it didn't. I was told the price was too high. But it took my leg anyway, as payment for seeing what I did."

Ed lifted his left pant leg to show them the sun gleaming off dull metal.

"I see," Kurogane said. "Your leg too, eh?"

"I told you that you didn't know the half of it," Ed said, tucking his pant leg back into his boot.

"Tch," Kurogane said, sneering. "Anyone can see you favor your left leg. You always lean to your right. I suspected it ever since you revealed your arm in the chimera fight."

"But if the Gate took your leg away," Sakura asked quietly, her voice curious and sympathetic. "What happened to your arm?"

Ed unconsciously pulled his right arm closer to his body. "It was taken as payment too, but for something different."

Al shifted uncomfortably at this, wanting to say something but unable to find the right words in front of strangers.

Ed lifted his gaze to look at the four foreigners. "Did you know that the chimera did that with your stuff?"

"News to us," Fay said, grinning. "Like Kuro-rin said, we never really thought to ask."

"You shouldn't accept things blindly without explanation," Ed said as he began walking again. The group followed suit. "The Gate is dangerous. I hope that thing knows what it's doing."

"I'd trust Moko-chan with my life," Sakura said, squeezing Mokona close.

"I believe we have in fact," Fay said. "Once or twice."

"Hehe," Mokona chuckled. "Mokona's the best!"

"I wouldn't go that far," Kurogane grumbled.

"Wah!" Mokona said, grinning but somehow managing to look genuinely hurt. "Kuro-rin's so mean!"

"Don't worry," Fay said. "Kuro-sama just has to put on a tough-guy image. I bet you if there were a Mokona fan club, he would definitely join in secret."

"Yeah!" Mokona said, hopping to Fay's shoulder and huddling close to him like a school girl spreading gossip. "He'd make up a fake name and write me fan letters."

"Dear Mokona," Fay said, reading from an invisible letter. "I could never tell you this in person because I'd be too embarrassed, but I think you're amazing. Let's be friends forever. Love times a billion, Kuroko-chan."

Mokona nodded vigorously while Kurogane simply stared at them wide-eyed and disgusted.

"You two together still only make up half a brain," Kurogane said. He looked at Syaoran and Sakura. "Just what the hell is a 'fan club' anyway?"

The two could only look at him blankly and shake their heads.

Al, his mind temporarily occupied by an image of a room full of people discussing the aesthetics of the room's ceiling fan over whiskey, hadn't noticed that Ed had pulled ahead of the group. Al increased his pace to catch up with him.

"That's why I don't need a transmutation circle, Al," Ed said as the suit of armor approached him from behind. He was talking quietly, but aware that he could easily be (and probably was being) overheard. "I saw a lot back at the Gate. Answers to questions I had never even thought of were shoved inside my head. Alchemy is…" Ed spread his hands and looked at his palms. "Well, I still can't explain it. But when I put my hands together, I think about how objects really have no form at all and everything just kind of happens automatically."

"I've tried doing it before," Al said sheepishly, putting his hands together to mimic Ed's transmutation technique. "But it doesn't work for me. I didn't go to the gate, I guess."

"No, I know you were there because I saw you _in_ it. That's—" Ed lowered his voice. "That's how I knew to come back and get you. You must've just forgotten about it."

The two were quiet for a moment, at a loss for words. The trauma of the event was still fresh even after two years. Talking about it was like picking at a scab on a wound: painful and counterproductive.

"Be glad that you don't remember the Gate, Al," Ed said, unable to let the silence go on without putting a cap on the conversation. "It was so indifferent to me that I felt like an idiot just for existing. I wish I hadn't seen it and I'd rather never see it again."

Al nodded, but he had seen his brother lie enough times to recognize the signs. Maybe, if given the chance, they wouldn't try to bring their mother back. But, seeing as how there are no real second chances in life, Al wondered seriously what Ed would sacrifice in order to see the gate one more time.

They continued walking, each to their own thoughts, while Mokona explained fan clubs to everyone in the most difficult way possible. Ed was only half-listening, refusing to give in to the delusions of a deranged chimera mind, while his own thoughts drifted back and forth between reality and the Gate.

Until, finally, his thoughts all lined up straight in a row and he could see right through them.

"Wait a second!" Ed said. He spun around, kicking up sand.

All of them stopped and Mokona quit talking to stare at Ed.

"If that thing can send objects to the Gate, why not people?" Ed said. He stared right at Mokona. "Can you send people to the Gate?"

Syaoran looked at Fay, whose grin widened. Kurogane's hand tightened into fists while Sakura held onto Mokona tighter and bit her lip.

"Can you _open_ the Gate? Can you put people through it?" Ed said, taking a step forward. He looked from one of them to the other. "Answer me."

The silence was crushing. Al could feel dread welling up inside his empty body like blood from a wound.

"Well?" Ed said. "Come on!"

"Nii-san, no!" Al said, grabbing Ed's arm roughly. Ed looked up, his forehead wrinkled with confusion.

"Al, what are you doi—" Ed started.

"I don't care what you saw in the Gate," Al said, his voice pleading. "It's not worth it. It took your leg last time, what do you think it'll take if you try to go back?"

"Wha—? No!" Ed said, yanking his arm out of Al's grip. His nostrils flared. "Not me! _Them_!"

Syaoran, Sakura, Fay, and Kurogane stood there, all looking as if they'd been caught shoplifting and showing varying degrees of guilt.

"They have no money, have never heard of the Fuehrer, are wearing _ridiculous_ clothing, talk about nonsense things like 'teavee' and 'fan clubs,' and, most importantly," Ed said. "Don't know anything about alchemy. That one—" Ed said, pointing at Fay. "Even said alchemy is impossible where he comes from."

Ed turned to Al. "Where on this planet is it downright _impossible_ to do alchemy?"

Al shook his head. "Nowhere…"

"Exactly," Ed said. "So the place where he can't do alchemy isn't in this world. They're not from here, Al. They came from across the Gate."

Ed let the words hang there for a few moments, his heart pounding to fill the silence. The truth was that he didn't know if he was right. The thought had come to him in a moment of completely lucid revelation, but now that he'd said the words aloud, the possibility seemed absurd. He didn't even know that the Gate could lead to other worlds, although his subconscious did. He had seen way more in the Gate than his waking mind dared to reveal to him and now, when he thought about it, flashes of some sort of town that was not familiar to him stood out in his mind like a figure etched on glass.

"It's true," Sakura said just as the long silence threatened to cave in on itself. "We're from another world."

Before anyone could even react to Sakura's words, a strong wind came from the south, saturating the air with sand. For a few moments, the dust got so thick that Sakura, Syaoran, Kurogane, and Fay standing only yards away disappeared from view.

"Sandstorm?" Al said.

"Nah," Ed said. "It's not nearly strong enough to be a sandstorm. It's just a lot of wind, that's all. It'll die down in a second."

The two could hear the other group having a similar conversation what seemed like just feet away. They could make out a flash of an arm or something clothing, but that was all.

"Alphonse-san," Sakura called. "Elric-san, are you all right?"

"Yeah," Ed said, moving toward her voice. "We're—"

Ed had no time to finish his sentence because just then Syaoran's long, lithe figure appeared out of the sand and rushed Ed.

"What the hell—?" Ed said as Syaoran took a running roundhouse kick to his head.

Ed ducked out of the kick and, in one fluid motion, leaped backward and also transmuted his arm into a blade. He was able to stand still for only a moment before he was sidestepping a lighting-fast punch aimed for between his eyes. As he pulled to the side and caught Syaoran's expression, he almost stopped breathing.

Syaoran's face was twisted, eyes wide and mouth pulled back in an inhuman grin that seemed to wrap around to the back of his neck. Ed would've described the expression as crazed, if not for a deep intelligent malice in his eyes and his sharp, coordinated movements.

Ed had seen that exact look before, but he didn't dare try to recall where. The boy's attacks were so swift that every brain cell in Ed's head was taken up with calculating his own movements to escape Syaoran's. Even attempting a counterattack would be impossible without getting himself killed.

Up to that point, the entire fight had lasted maybe five seconds. It had taken that amount of time for Al to recover from the shock and try to head off the attacker.

But, just as suddenly as he had attacked, Syaoran stopped. He looked at Ed, grinned so hard it looked like he was going to split his face open, and then disappeared back into the curtain of sand.

"Why?" Al gasped.

Ed took off after the figure, holding his right arm out in front of him, ready to slice open anyone who opposed him.

A cry sprang up from somewhere in the sand.

"Elric-san! No!" Sakura's voice was strained and panicked.

"Princess, run!" Syaoran's voice rang clearly.

Sakura screamed.

Ed ran toward the voices, but they kept changing direction. He and Al groped through the sand-saturated air for several tense seconds, seeing only waves in the sand to indicate someone moving, but not much more.

"Syaoran-kun!" Sakura yelled.

"Kid! Where are you?" Kurogane's rough voice sounded like the sand itself.

"He's gone!" Syaoran cried. "I lost him!"

Just then, the wind died and the sand fell to the ground like rain. Syaoran's back was to Ed as the air cleared. Ed took the advantage and charged, hoping to catch Syaoran off-guard. Kurogane, his sword in his hands immediately launched himself at the closest of the brothers: Al. Fay was with Sakura, tending to a bruise on her arm.

Syaoran heard Ed's steps in the sand as he charged and fell into a roll to spring up beside Sakura who had Mokona in her arms.

"Mokona, Hein!" Syaoran said, breathless.

"But—" Mokona said, eyes trained on Ed and looking pained.

"Hurry!" Syaoran said. He leaped into the air to aim a kick at Ed from above.

Ed sidestepped and narrowly missed Syaoran's right side with his blade.

"O-okay!" Mokona said, expelling the red of ball of light that shaped itself into a sword.

Syaoran caught it in midair and landed heavily on the sand, holding Hein in front of him and looking at Ed. The two were breathing very hard.

They didn't know it, but they were having nearly the same thoughts. Both were thinking that the other one seemed to have weakened. Compared to the fight in the sandstorm, each thought the other was moving in slow motion. It seemed to be an even playing field now while before they were simply trying to stay inches ahead of the next attack.

And when they had that thought, doubt began to cloud their minds. Something was wrong. The movements their opponent was using now didn't match the ones in the sandstorm.

_He tried to punch me back there_, Ed thought, his mind racing through images of the fight with the chimera. _But he doesn't punch even if it's a better idea. Always kicks._

_He landed on his left leg in the sandstorm_, Syaoran thought. _Why would he do that if he could have just as easily landed on his right? He favors his left side because of his metal leg._

"Nii-san!" Al screamed, blocking a sword-strike from Kurogane with one huge metal arm. "Look!"

He had only an instant to point before he was countering another attack from Kurogane, but both Ed and Syaoran looked in the direction Al had specified.

And there, maybe twenty yards away, against the backdrop of blowing sand, they could see a figure. Ed's heart turned to ice, and then pumped fire as rage filled it.

The figure was himself. Blond hair, red jacket, black boots. And as if the figure could feel eyes on him, he turned around and grinned. Suddenly, the vision of Ed was gone, replaced by a taller one with loads of dark green hair and sickly pale skin.

"Envy!" Ed choked. He was transfixed by two completely opposing instincts: one to chase after Envy and shove his blade into the creature's throat and the other to run in the opposite direction until he couldn't any longer.

The instinct to give chase won out, though, and he was running across the dunes before he had time to process the decision. Part of him knew he would either lose Envy or die, but the part of him that was running didn't let him think about it.

Ed had barely taken two steps when Envy gave a hearty wave and then disappeared into the sand cloud. The sand instantly dispersed, and Envy was gone.

"Damnit!" Ed cursed.

"Nii-san!" Al said from behind him amidst sounds of a struggle.

Ed turned around just in time to see Kurogane wrench the helmet off Al's armor. As was his habit whenever anyone removed his head, Al fell limply onto the ground.

Sakura uttered a little strangled cry, cupping her hands over her mouth and her eyes filling with tears. The expression evaporated in a moment, however, replaced by nervous confusion.

Kurogane stood there with the empty helmet in his hands. The surprise dropped from his face almost instantly and he grinned, wolf-like. "Tch. No wonder you weren't getting tired."

"Well, well, well," Fay said, smiling.

"Don't be scared, Sakura-san," Al said, raising his headless body off the ground and holding his arms out to the girl as if surrendering. "It's just me."

He stood up and walked unsteadily the few paces to Kurogane. "Um, may I have my head back, please?"

Kurogane handed the helmet over as if returning a borrowed pen and Al placed it back on his shoulders.

"Who was that person?" Syaoran said to Ed, still breathing hard. "You called him Envy."

"It's not a person," Ed said, glaring at Syaoran. "Are you all really from across the Gate?"

"Alphonse-san," Sakura said as Mokona complained that she was squeezing too tight. "Does it hurt?"

"Well!" Fay said jubilantly, clapping his hands together. "Looks like we all have some explaining to do, doesn't it?"

* * *

End note: I wanted to let Ed and Syaoran's fight go on (I had really cool images in my head of Syaoran getting trapped inside a giant hand made out of sand transmuted by Ed and then Syaoran busting out using Kashin Shourai) but I cut it for flow. I'm still not sure if Syaoran can even use his magic in this world. But I'll have to decide things like that really soon as we get into the heart of this fic. Can you feel it coming? I'm moving out of character development now and into the plot-driven stuff. Action ftw.

Also, I'd like to make a note about future updates. Chapitre 190 of T:RC completely broke my brain, and that wasn't the first time. This manga has nearly put me into a coma so many times that I've lost count. So, for the sake of my sanity, I have to either wait until the manga ends and I can see enough of the big picture to salvage the plot I have lined up for this story, or make up my own version of the Sakura?/Sakura/"Syaoran"/_name withheld_ (any more that I'm missing?) story. Not sure what I'll do yet; I have to write when the mood strikes me or not at all. Ah, I remember the halcyon days where my plot for this fic seemed like it was going to fit like a puzzle piece into the canon. HA! Well, such is the burden of writing a fic for a series still in production.

One last thing: what do you think of me ranting like this at the end of the chapter? Go to my profile and take the poll! I want to know if I'm wasting my time writing this stuff when you guys don't care anyway. ;P

Review! Thanks!


	8. Tête à Tête

A/N: Ahem… Well, to celebrate a year of no updates to this fic, here's a chapter! I'm just full of surprises, aren't I?

* * *

**Tête-à-Tête**

Lust sat on a rock, holding her hand in her chin and staring out into the desert below her from the plateau. Beside her, Gluttony lay on the dusty ground with his pot belly towards the sky and his mouth hanging open, waiting for something—anything—to drop inside. So much drool leaked from the sides of his mouth that the sand around him had turned to mud.

"Lust," the homunculus said, training his beady eyes on the woman. "I'm hungry."

"I know," Lust said, unmoving. "I'm bored as well."

She could feel Envy's approach from behind her, but didn't care to turn around.

"Seems you had fun," Lust said. The wind took her words and threw them towards Envy.

"I did," a grin weighted Envy's voice. "That debris cloud from Yous Well made perfect cover to take them by surprise. Glad we backtracked."

Lust shifted ever-so-slightly. "You were seen."

"Who said I couldn't be seen?" Envy said. "The plan was to make Chibi and the tin can spill their secrets. And what's a bigger secret than us?"

"The plan was specifically to the reveal the younger brother as not having a flesh body," Lust said. "Admit it: you got carried away."

Envy chuckled. "I won't because I didn't. I don't make mistakes. Trust me, you're gonna be grateful later on."

Lust stood. Gluttony followed suit, wiping drool away and looking hopeful.

"Let's go," Lust said. "We have ground to make up if we're going to keep track of them."

"Actually, you go. I'll catch up," Envy said. He slithered to step in front of Lust. "I'd better go see the boss. I got some news. You won't believe what I overheard just before I attacked."

Lust crossed her arms, waiting for Envy to speak rather than give him the satisfaction of indulging his superiority complex.

Envy grinned, showing teeth. "Those new kids say they came from beyond the Gate."

* * *

"Her name is Yuuko. Some people call her the Witch of Dimensions," Syaoran was saying. "She's a sorceress who has the power to send people to other worlds."

"A sorceress?" Ed said, snorting. "Ridiculous. There's no such thing as magic. It's just fantasy."

"I beg your pardon, Edward-san," Fay said. "But in my world, it's alchemy that is the fantasy. Besides, in my experience, the two are quite similar. Both require mental discipline, regents, and, of course, physical sacrifice."

Fay nodded to Ed, who flexed his right hand and looked away.

"If you don't want to say, I understand, but…" Sakura said, squeezing Makona close and looking up at Al. "What happened to you? Is this a normal result of performing alchemy?"

"Not exactly," Ed said.

"How we are today is the result of a miscalculation," Al said. "We were attempting forbidden alchemy and found out too late why it was forbidden."

"We're not going to try it again, let's put it that way," Ed said. "But, hey, we're not talking about Al and me. I want to know how you all got past the gate without losing so much as a fingernail."

"Well, we all certainly made sacrifices, but we were spared physical harm thanks to Yuuko-san," Fay said. "I suppose you can say she acts as an intermediary between the gate and whoever wants to travel through it. She takes a toll from the traveler and that serves as payment for passage."

"That damn woman took my sword," Kurogane said. "That was my father's sword. If I had it, I'd be back to Nihon by now."

"A sword?" Ed said, folding his arms over his chest. "That's it? I don't believe it. I lost my leg to go where you've been and all you lose is a lousy sharpened stick."

"If I had that sword, I'd show you just what that sharpened stick could do, you ignorant little brat!" Kurogane growled.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE?!" Ed exploded.

"Regardless of how it may seem," Fay said, completely ignoring Ed's outburst. "We all made a tremendous personal sacrifice that day. The things we parted with were very dear."

Sakura bit her lip. "I was unconscious at the time. I don't remember making any sacrifice—"

"Your brother gave me a rare trinket from Clow in exchange for passage, Princess," Syaoran said very quickly. "Yuuko-san decided it was payment enough for us both."

Fay winked at Syaoran as if to say: _Good save_.

"There were many amazing objects in the castle," Sakura said. "I hope it wasn't anything too important."

"Nothing's more important than your life," Al said quietly. "I'm sure your brother was willing to give anything for you, just like my brother was for me."

Ed rolled his eyes when everyone turned to stare at him. "Yeah, yeah, my brother's soul for my arm. Not a bad trade."

"Very impressive," Fay said, looking at Al as if examining a fine work of art. "A soul binding. Even with magic, it's an extremely difficult procedure. Most souls don't take to the new vessel and evaporate within hours. How long have you been like this, Alphonse-san?"

"Two years and counting," Al said. "Nii-san's transmutation was flawless. I'm not going anywhere."

"Well, I believe that brings us suitably up-to-date," Fay said. "What do you say we start looking for shelter? There's still plenty of daylight now, but by the time we find a decent camp and start a fire, it will be dark."

"There's a rock face that way," Syaoran said, pointing to a splash of wavering grey in the distance.

"It's not too far out of our way either," Ed said, checking a compass. "We'll reach Yous Well by tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

"I hope there's running water there," Fay said. "Our last accommodations were cozy, but lacked in showers."

"If you lost that ridiculous coat, you'd sweat a lot less," Kurogane said.

"I'd have third degree burns in minutes," Fay said, hugging himself. "I'm very delicate, you know."

Ed rolled his eyes. "How you all survived this long is anyone's guess. As for Yous Well, it's a wealthy mining town and the mayor owes me big. We'll get the royal treatment: showers, huge meals, and the best room at the inn."

"After being out here for three days, that sounds like heaven," Sakura said, smiling. "We may not want to leave."

The group headed for the rock face in the distance, their footprints in the sand covered instantly by the stale breeze.

* * *

The desert was eerily quiet at night. Besides the crackle of the group's fire, there were hardly any noises save for the wind and the ominous sound of creatures burrowing in and out of the sand.

Kurogane sat cross-legged across from Alphonse as he had since his watch began. Just as his hour ended did he finally open his mouth.

"At the moment I wrenched your head off, I had no regrets," he said. "It would've been a shame if you'd had a body under there."

It almost sounded like an apology. Al paused to consider a careful answer.

"We didn't want you to get mixed up in all this," Al said. "I guess we hoped to never have to tell you anything."

Kurogane scoffed. "Take it from me: the battle is almost always brought to the warrior, not the other way around."

He stood and turned toward Fay who was sleeping curled into a ball. "My watch is over. I'll take great pleasure in waking that idiot."

"Didn't Sakura-san say she'd take second shift?" Al said.

Kurogane raised an eyebrow at this. What did Al care who took what shift? "Alright, then. You wake her."

"Me?" Al said, shock in his voice. "Why?"

"She's closer to your spot," Kurogane said. He lay down on top his sleeping bag. "You know, it's a good thing you can't sleep. That way the rest of us can."

Al didn't move for awhile after Kurogane drifted off (which didn't take very long.) He looked over to where Sakura slept just feet away, her back to him.

He considered letting her sleep, but after the way she reacted when someone tried to take her turn at pumping water earlier that day, he knew that she would probably be more upset if he didn't wake her than if he did.

Awkwardly, Al leaned over the girl. She seemed so tiny to him, even more so when he placed one of his armored hands on her shoulder and found that his hand spanned halfway to her elbow.

"S-sakura-san," Al whispered. When she didn't move, he shook her lightly. "I'm sorry to wake you, but it's time for your watch."

The girl opened one eye halfway and stared up at Al as if not all the muscles in her face were working. She rolled over further opposite Al and pulled her blanket over her head.

"Five more minutes, Onii-san," she said, her bleary voice muffled by the blanket.

Al pulled back. Of all the ways he had imagined this scenario playing out, this was not one of them. Onii-san?

Just as he frantically began thinking about what to do next, Sakura sprang up, tossing her blanket to the side. She turned to Al and even in the firelight he could see her blushing.

"I'm _so_ sorry, Alphonse-san," she whispered, a smile spilling onto her face. "I was dreaming."

"I'm sorry I woke you," Al said.

Sakura shook her head. "I would have felt awful if I'd slept through the night. Thank you."

They sat in silence for a few awkward moments. Sakura grabbed a stick and poked the fire, sending a burst of sparks up into the night.

"If you don't mind my asking…" Al said finally. "What were you dreaming about?"

Sakura smiled into the fire. "Home. I lived in a city called Clow that was in the middle of a huge desert a lot like this one. Being out here is bringing up all sorts of memories… Memories I haven't thought about in a long time."

"All good ones, I hope," Al said.

"Most of them are wonderful," Sakura said. "I miss home a lot."

"And you really are a princess there?" Al said.

"Yes," Sakura said. "I'm descended from the royal bloodline. My mother and father passed away some time ago, but my older brother Touya is king now… He must be so worried about me."

"Do you ever think one day you'll go back?" Al said.

"I hope so with all my heart," Sakura said. "But it would be difficult to leave my friends. Sometimes I have fantasies of all five of us living together in the palace, but I don't think it would be possible. Fay-san can't stay in one place for long and Kurogane-san wants to return to his own home. Moko-chan is only on loan. Yuuko-san will want him back."

"What about Syaoran-san? He's from your world, isn't he?" Al said.

Sakura nodded. "I think he loved Clow just as much as I did. There were these huge ruins out in the desert and Syaoran-kun says he was the head of the archeology team that was excavating them. I wish I would have known him when we both lived there."

Al cocked his head at the last statement. "You mean… you didn't know each other before you started your journey for the feather?"

"No," Sakura said. "I have no memories of him before waking up that first night in a different world."

The words were out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying. She felt like she had just reached inside her own mind and squeezed. The words resonated in her head until her voice became distorted and began to ring. She had trouble focusing on what Al said next.

"That's really strange," Al said. "I thought since you two had been traveling together from the start, you were probably really close."

"No, he…" Sakura said. Her heart began to pump furiously and blood rushed to her temples. When she closed her eyes, all she could see was his face. "Syaoran-kun is—"

_Who are you?_

Behind her eyes, there was a brilliant flash of light. In a moment, she saw all the memories she had received with blank spots in them: an empty space, a voice speaking silence, a name covered by ambient noise. All this time with the thoughts in her head and not once had she wondered who was being covered. In fact, she hadn't even noticed. It was as if she wasn't supposed to remember or even think about it. There was a wall there.

"Sakura-san? Are you all right?"

She could feel her mind shutting down like watching a rolling blackout from the air. She was powerless to stop it. All she could do was push herself further and further away to the end of her memory. And it was there that she found it: the first memory she had that didn't belong to the feathers.

It was the memory of opening her eyes and seeing this strange amber-eyed boy leaning over her with her hand gripped in his own… And the flicker of utter pain and sadness in his face when she said: "Who are you?"

Then it was all gone, leaving Sakura with the overwhelming urge to sleep and the nagging feeling she'd forgotten something terribly important. But she instinctively knew that sleep would ease the torment—whether she wanted it to or not.

Al watched in horror as Sakura's eyes lost focus and she began to fall towards the ground.

"Sakura-san!" Al said as the girl slumped. He reached out and grabbed her before she hit the sand. "Sakura-san!"

Syaoran was awake and by Sakura's side before Kurogane had even pulled his sword out to address the threat.

"What happened?" Syaoran said. He took Sakura out of Al's arms and brought her back to her spot by the fire.

"I don't know!" Al said, straining to get a view of Sakura over Syaoran's shoulder. "We were just talking and then she fainted."

"Sakura!" Mokona cried. Fay scooped the puff ball into his hands and got up to investigate.

Syaoran stood back to let Fay look at her with Mokona perched on his shoulder. Fay found her breathing was slow and regular. He could see her eyes moving lazily under her eyelids as if she were dreaming about something pleasant.

"She's just asleep, Syaoran-kun," Fay said. "Let her rest until morning."

Syaoran sighed, breathing out for the first time in almost a minute.

"Wha…" Ed groaned from his sleeping bag on the other side of the fire. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What's going on?"

"Good to see you'd be so quick to your feet if we were attacked in the night," Kurogane said.

"Oh shut up," Ed said. "If we were being attacked, I'd know it."

"Sakura-san fainted," Al said, his gaze skipping from person to person. "It happened so fast. One minute we were having a conversation and the next her eyes got glassy and every muscle in her body went slack. I was so worried—the way she just collapsed… I thought something was really wrong."

"Elric-san," Syaoran said to Al. "What were you talking about just before the princess lost consciousness?"

Al hesitated for just a moment. "I don't know—lots of things. Her home, her family…"

"Were you talking about me?" Syaoran said.

The question seemed to split the night. Al shifted uncomfortably as he realized Kurogane and Fay were also waiting for an answer.

"I…" Al said, feeling guilty without knowing why. "I didn't mean to pry. I just mentioned that you two seemed close. If I said something I shouldn't have…"

"The princess has a very open heart," Syaoran said after a beat of silence. "She'll talk about anything with you if you ask. But you have to promise me one thing, Elric-san. Both of you," Syaoran said, looking back at Ed as well. "You can't talk to the princess about me, especially about our pasts. Ever. Even if she brings it up, you have to change the subject right away."

"I don't understand," Al said. "What does this have to do with what just happened?"

Syaoran glanced at Fay and Kurogane. Fay nodded almost imperceptivity.

"We lied earlier because the princess can't know," Syaoran said. "Yuuko-san took more than a trinket in exchange for passage through the Gate."

Ed glared in the darkness. "I knew it. It couldn't have been something so impersonal. What did you really give up?"

"The princess' memories of me," Syaoran said. His voice didn't waiver and he looked directly at Ed when he said it, but he pulled Sakura closer to him. "The price was for both of us, actually."

"Interesting. Memory loss is a common side-effect of some types of alchemy," Ed said. "The mental ward in Central is full of people who have lost their minds using forbidden techniques and procedures. Some don't even recognize their own faces in the mirror."

"So…" Alphonse said. "You really did know each other in Clow, Syaoran-san?"

"We grew up together," Syaoran said. "She knew me better than I know myself… But this is what happens when she tries to remember our past together."

"In the morning, it'll be as if she never had that conversation with you, Alphonse-san," Fay said. "And you mustn't try to remind her. If she mentions her blackout, you have to make something up."

"It must be some sort of defense mechanism," Ed said. "Her brain is compensating for the lost memories. And when it's forced into a situation that it can't compensate for, it shuts down and resets."

"Do you think she'll ever get her memories of you back, Syaoran-san?" Al asked. His voice was quiet.

Syaoran shook his head and stared into the fire as he said, "No, never. That was our price for coming through the gate. And when Yuuko-san takes something, she doesn't give it back."

"The only things worth Sakura-chan's memories of Syaoran-kun are her memories of the events that transpired after we all traveled through the gate," Fay said. "And giving up those memories could kill her."

"Why would you willingly make a sacrifice like that?" Ed said, looking at Syaoran. "What the hell is so important about this feather that you had to leave your own world for it? Not to mention harm someone you care about."

"The princess is very ill," Syaoran said, glaring at Ed. "The only thing in any world that can cure her is the feather. Without it, she will grow weak and die. I can't let that happen, especially if the only thing standing in our way is something that only really affects me. There is nothing in this world or any world that is worth the princess' life. Not even my own."

The light in Al's eyes had widened all throughout Syaoran's speech. "Sakura-san… She's sick?"

"Gravely," Fay said. For the first time since the brothers had met him, Fay didn't even have the hint of a smile on his face. "She is healthy enough now, but the longer she goes without the feather, the weaker she will become."

"How do you know the feather will cure her?" Ed said. "Alchemy amplifiers sometimes have great healing powers, but only if you know how to use them. And since none of you even know the first thing about alchemy, I don't see you getting very far with it."

Fay exchanged glances with Syaoran. Silently the two agreed: they still had some secrets to keep. If Sakura wanted the brothers to know that the feather was her own memory, she would be the one to tell them.

"Tch," Kurogane said to Ed, having interpreted the silent conversation. "You deal with your business and let us handle our own. We know more about this than you think _you_ do."

"Why don't you let us decide for ourselves what we know and don't know, alright?" Ed said. He went to the other side of the fire and plopped down on the sand next to Al. He crossed his arms and didn't look at anyone when he said, "It'll be dawn in a few hours. Get some sleep. I'll take over for Princess' since her royal _constitution_ is currently indisposed."

Syaoran narrowed his eyes at this and opened his mouth to say something, but Al spoke first.

"It was my fault, Nii-san," Al said. "I can stand watch alone. I think it's safe enough."

"Al, you didn't do anything wrong," Ed said. "Stop acting like you have something to punish yourself for."

"I have to agree with Edward-san on that one," Fay said. "It was absolutely impossible for you to know about Sakura-chan's condition. I'm sure had you known, you would have been much more careful about what you said."

"I'll certainly be more cautious about it next time," Al said.

Fay grinned. "That's all we ask. Now, I really do think we should all get some rest. I know I'm exhausted."

"_You're_ exhausted?" Kurogane growled. "You haven't taken a single watch yet!"

"Yes, well, just thinking about all the hard work you've been doing makes me sleepy," Fay said. "I'm a very empathetic person, you know."

"Stop making up words!" Kurogane said.

* * *

End Note: Um, what can I say? I have no idea what possessed me to write another chapter for something that I thought was long dead. I was just going through some old files and read this partially finished chapter, then starting typing away. I have no idea if I'm going to write another chapter, but you can always bribe me with a glowing review! They seriously make my day. Thanks to all who stuck with me and welcome new readers.


	9. Evil the Weasel

A/N: Thank you so very much to those who reviewed my last chapter. You guys are the greatest. And, just for you, here is another chapter. I hope this will be a nice step forward in the plot. Enjoy!

**Evil the Weasel**

Sakura awoke in the morning, not knowing where she was or even who she was. But slowly, as if her memories were being filtered one-by-one, her life came back to her. The process wasn't at all pleasant and one she had experienced only once before. It left her feeling like she had went to sleep with something undone, but it wasn't all that important and best forgotten. Against her better judgment, she surrendered to the impulse. A moment later she was thinking that everyone must have that strange feeling once in a while. It was perfectly normal.

She sat up and looked around the camp. In the early morning light, she could see everyone was still asleep, save for Al. He had his big metal back to her, facing out into the desert. With a little pang in her stomach, Sakura realized that couldn't remember finishing her watch.

Sakura slipped out of her sleeping bag. To her surprise, she found the air still quite chilly even though the sun had been up for a good thirty minutes or so from the looks of it. She wrapped her blanket over her shoulders and wandered over to Al's spot. Ed was snoring loudly on the ground next to him, his shirt rolled up and belly exposed.

"Good morning," Sakura whispered, sitting down on the side opposite from the sleeping Ed.

"Sakura-san!" Al said, his eyes wide. For a moment it seemed like he wanted to hug her or say something more, but restrained himself. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

Sakura grinned sheepishly. "I guess so. I'm so sorry I fell asleep in the middle of my watch. I don't know what happened."

"It's okay," Al said quickly. "I guess you were more tired than you thought."

"I guess I was," Sakura said. The chill in the air seemed to deepen and Sakura pulled the blanket tighter around her. "I don't even remember falling asleep."

"It's okay, really!" Al said. His voice was high and insistent. "Don't give it another thought. I don't mind. You couldn't help it. Um, do you want some breakfast? No one's eaten my rations yet."

Sakura gratefully accepted an orange. As she peeled it, her expression was one of someone deep in thought.

"Do you miss being able to eat?" Sakura asked.

There was a beat of silence as Al stared into the sun that hung above the horizon as if suspended by a string.

"If you don't want to talk about it I understand," Sakura said. "But… I'm curious. What's it like?"

Al didn't say anything for a few more moments. Sakura bit her lip and was just about to beg Al's pardon and try to take her words back when Al finally spoke.

"I miss being able to sleep the most," Al said. "It's funny because when we were kids, Nii-san and I would stay up half the night reading and experimenting. As we got tired, we always complained to each other about the body's ridiculous need for sleep. It seemed like such a complete waste of time. But now…

"Eight hours in a long time to be alone. And I miss dreaming," Al said. "That's probably the worst thing. I haven't dreamt in two years. It would be nice to escape the real world for awhile. But I'm always here and this body is a constant reminder of how harsh reality can be."

Al held his hands up and balled his fists. "I don't feel anything. I don't smell anything. All I have are the memories of those senses and everyday those memories get dimmer. Sometimes I think I'm stuck between this world and an unseen one, and unable to fully interact with either."

"Believe it or not, that's how I feel too," Sakura said. "Sometimes I think I can feel myself slipping, about to tumble into some unknown place. And just when I'm about to lose myself, Fay-san or Kurogane-san, Syaoran-kun or even Moko-chan pulls me back into the real world. And I'm grateful to them for that. I don't know what would've happened to me if there weren't here. I'm not sure that they know how vital they are to my existence."

"I think they know," Al said. "They all seem really fond of you."

Sakura felt the gap between the two of them and didn't like it. She slid a little closer to Al and rested her head on his big arm. The metal was warm and took away the chill from the air. With her ear up against the armor, she could hear the desert wind moving around in the emptiness of him.

Al looked down at the girl, bewildered. Besides his brother, Al couldn't remember the last time someone had willingly touched him. He wondered what on earth would possess Sakura to do such a thing.

But once he put the awkwardness out of his mind, it was kind of nice. If he concentrated really hard, he could almost feel the weight of her.

"SAKURA!"

Mokona jumped into Sakura's arms, forcing her off Al's shoulder.

"Sakura, good morning!" the fur ball said. "I missed you a lot while you were sleeping!"

"Mokona, lower your voice," Sakura said, smiling. "You'll wake Edward-san."

Al laughed. "No, you can't wake up Nii-san like that. Watch."

Al leaned right next to his brother's ear and yelled: "Wake up!"

Ed snorted, rolled over, and didn't show any signs of being more awake than he had been.

"If you want to wake him up, you have to do this," Al said. He reached into a nearby back and pulled out a stick of jerky. Then he held it under Ed's nose.

"Three… two… one," Al said.

Ed sniffed the air in front of him. Al moved the jerky upwards and Ed followed it into a sitting position. Ed yawned, stretched, and finally opened his eyes.

"What time is it? Where's breakfast?" Ed said, scratching his stomach.

Al, Sakura, and Mokona burst into giggles. Ed stared at them blearily.

* * *

The group packed up and headed back out into the desert before the sun got too much higher. By then, however, the chill had worn off and all that was left was the threatening stillness of impending dry heat. As the day wore on, every single person in the group had lodged some sort of complaint about the heat. After all, they had done nothing but trek through the sand for days without a shower and very little food. It was enough to break down even the most steeled of nerves.

"Stupid deserts," Kurogane grumbled. "In Nihon, we have none. What a waste or space this is. Nothing but sand and heat for days' worth of travel. If this were my country, all this would be rolling hillsides and temperate weather."

"Yeah, well we aren't in your country," Ed said. "And mine is a lot of desert. So suck it up. We're only about an hour outside Yous Well now anyway."

"Just two seconds ago you were complaining too, Edward-san," Fay said. "Bit of a double standard, don't you think?"

"This is _my_ country, which gives me every right to complain," Ed snapped.

"Hey," Syaoran said, squinting into the distance. "Are those people?"

About fifteen or so minutes ahead were several moving dots. As the group's eyes adjusted to the heat waves emanating from the horizon, the forms of people did indeed take shape.

"I count around 20," Fay said, holding up his hand to shield his eyes even though the hood of his robe did that for him. "Maybe more."

"What are they all doing out here?" Sakura said. "I hope they're okay."

"Could they be military, Nii-san?" Al said.

"No way," Ed said. "They're too spread out and walking too slowly. It's like they're not sure where they're going."

"What about the feather, Mokona?" Syaoran said. "Are you getting anything?"

Mokona's eyes closed. "No, the feather is not with them. But we're headed the right way. Mokona can feel the power of the feather much further ahead."

"How much further?" Ed pressed.

"Seventy-eight point five kilometers due north north-west," Mokona said in a deadpan voice.

"You—you can gauge it that accurately?" Ed said. "Why didn't you tell us before? We could've moved quicker if we knew exactly where it was!"

Mokona faced Ed and grinned. "Teehee. That was my Super Sarcasm Power! One of 108 secret skills! Fooled ya, huh?"

Ed stared at the little puff ball. "You mean you have no idea how far ahead the amplifier is?"

"Nope!" Mokona said. "Not a clue!"

"Then why didn't you just say that?" Ed said through gritted teeth.

"Well, when you have Super Sarcasm Power, you really should use it now and again," Mokona said. "Gotta keep from getting rusty."

"Have you ever had a sane thought in your entire life?" Ed said. "I mean, even once?"

"Yes," Mokona said. "At least once."

"Is that your sarcasm again?" Ed said.

"Maybe," Mokona said. "You should really work on your sarcasm detection skills."

"Ug!" Ed said. He turned to Al. "If I ever try to have an intelligent conversation with that thing again, stop me."

Al nodded.

As the group got closer to the people ambling towards them, their features slowly came into focus.

"Nii-san, I recognize some of them!" Al said. "They're all from Yous Well. That's the man who's good friends with Halling. And there's the lady who tidied around the inn. And that man over there was one of the miners."

"Yeah, you're right," Ed said. "But what are they all doing out here? They're carrying stuff too. It looks like they left in a hurry."

Ed and Al broke into a jog. Syaoran's group hung back, unwilling to expend more energy under the burning sun for people they didn't know. As Ed and Al moved closer, some of the people banded to meet them. The others kept walking, trudging past Syaoran and everyone without a glance upward. They carried little and said nothing.

"They look for all the world like refugees," Fay said, whispering to Syaoran.

"That's just what I was thinking," Syaoran said. "It's as if they were forced from their homes with little to no notice."

"How sad," Sakura said. "Can we do anything to help them?"

"We're low on rations and water ourselves," Kurogane said. "We can't spare anything. Better to just let them be. They'll get where they're going if they're smart."

"From the looks of it, we can forget about those cool beds and showers, huh?" Fay said.

Kurogane let out a strangled grumble.

Ed and Al were having an animated conversation with a few people when Syaoran and everyone got into earshot.

"It's all gone, Elric," one of the men was saying. "Every last building has been leveled. The whole town is nothing but a pile of rubble. The mines have caved in too. Dozens are dead. There's nothing left for us there."

"How can that happen?" Al said. "An earthquake?"

"It wasn't an earthquake," one of the women said. "I heard it happen in the night. It sounded like an explosion. Then the house came crashing down around me. I've never experienced anything like that in my whole life and I certainly hope I never have to again."

"A bomb?" Ed said. "Could it have been a rival country attacking? If so, I need to get word to Central right away. This could be the first wave of an invasion."

"No, no, no," the man said. "It wasn't a bomb. At least, we're pretty sure. Listen, we're all headed for civilization to report what happened and… try to rebuild our lives. But Halling is still in town looking for survivors and anything of use that wasn't totally obliterated. He'll be happy to see you, I think."

"I'll try to repair as much as I can while I'm there," Ed said. "I'm sure I can get some buildings back to standing at least."

The man put a hand on Ed's shoulder. "That would mean the world to us. Anyway, we better keep moving. We only have so much food and water. We can't dally. Good luck, Elric. Be careful."

Ed nodded and shook the man's hand. The group of people from Yous Well headed west and Syaoran and Ed and everyone continued east.

"An explosion? What could it mean?" Al said.

"It isn't hard at all to make an explosion by alchemy," Ed said. "But to create one with enough power to level all of Yous Well would take a lot of energy. Too much to be practical."

"It must be the feather," Syaoran said. "Remember that great force you felt the other night, Mokona?"

"Yes," Mokona said. "This is the direction it came from. And it was scary powerful."

"No, not again…" Sakura said. She slumped over as if a giant weight had been added to her shoulders. "The feather is just causing destruction wherever it goes."

"Some amplifiers are inherently evil, depending on what materials are used to make them and exactly how those materials are obtained," Ed said. His expression had darkened as if revisiting some terrible memory. "But we can't rule out human involvement here. In the right hands, even the darkest of alchemy can have a noble use. I've seen amplifiers made from human blood save the lives of the sick and weak."

"Besides, we can't go jumping to conclusions about what the amplifier is made of," Al said. "I'm still holding out hope that its power comes from something natural and not sinister."

"'Holding out hope?'" Kurogane repeated. "What does that mean?"

"Let's just say that the last time we hunted an alchemic amplifier, it turned out to be less than what we expected," Ed said. "Remember that human blood I was talking about? Yeah. Amplifiers are a dirty business."

"What were you hunting amplifiers for?" Syaoran said.

"None of your freaking business," Ed snapped.

"I see," Fay said, grinning. "Meaning it was personal and not a mission for the military. Little by little you are revealing your secrets, Ed-kun."

"Hey, who said you could call me that?" Ed said.

It wasn't long before the group reached the outskirts of what had once been Yous Well. The sparse grass and trees were all that remained standing. Sporadic piles of wood lay in heaps on the ground. If Syaoran hadn't known that this was supposed to be a town, he would have a hard time imagining that the big, splintered piles of rubble had once been homes.

"Look, Nii-san," Al said, pointing. "The mine."

A landslide had completely covered the entrance to the mine.

"I hope there was no one inside at the time," Ed said.

"Oy! Elrics!" a voice shouted. The group looked in the direction of the voice and saw a large blond man waving to them. He was standing next to the biggest pile of rubble by far. Syaoran assumed it had once been the inn.

"Halling!" Ed shouted back. "What the hell happened here?"

Halling jogged to meet them halfway. He clapped a heavy hand to Al's shoulder and reached down to ruffle Ed's hair. Ed backed away and attempted to smooth his hair back out.

"I was wondering when you'd finally get here," Halling said. "I sent that letter to you over three weeks ago and your reply made it sound like you would be here before I could get another letter off. Of course, that was before all this…"

The group followed Halling back towards what had once been the inn. They noticed movement amongst the rubble and saw a young boy and a woman rummaging through the building's remains.

"Kyle, Dearest!" Halling yelled. "Look who finally showed up!"

"Oh, Edward-san!" the woman said, abandoning some mangled cookware to rush over the where Ed and Al were standing. She reached out to shake Ed's hand. Her eyes were ringed with red. "I wish you could've been here sooner. Then I'd have some lodging and cold drinks for you!"

"I wish I'd been here sooner too," Ed said. "Maybe I could've done something to stop all this."

"It happened so fast!" the boy, Kyle, said, sliding down one side of the rubble to meet them. "One minute I was sleeping and the next I was crawling out from under the roof."

"It's so good to see you're all okay," Al said. "When we heard the news, I thought the worst."

"Yeah, well, some weren't as lucky," Halling said. "I've given up looking for survivors."

Halling gestured to an open spot a few yards from where they stood. A makeshift graveyard had been erected where two dozen or so bodies were covered with heavy stones.

"Twenty-seven are dead, thirteen are still missing," Halling said. He wiped his brow and shut his eyes for a brief moment. "I pulled a few out at the beginning, but I think the rest are beyond all help now. I've gone over the whole site. I call and call and call, but I get no answers."

"Halling, what happened here?" Ed said. "We heard it was an explosion, but the people we met on the way told us you had a better idea."

"Oh yeah," Halling said. "It was that bastard Yoki. He was here with that feather. The one you've been looking for."

Ed's eyes widened and he and Al exchanged glances. "You better tell us everything. Start from the beginning."

The group followed Halling over to a shady spot by the big pile of rubble. As they moved, Sakura pulled on Syaoran's sleeve. Syaoran stopped and looked back at her.

"I'm going to go pay my respects to the dead," Sakura said. She looked resolute, but her eyes were glassy. She lowered her voice further when she said, "I need to apologize."

"Princess, we've talked about this. You have nothing to be sorry about," Syaoran said. "This Yoki person sounds like he wasn't terribly well-loved by the people of this town. He probably used the power of the feather to seek some kind of vengeance. Instead of feeling guilty, you should feel outraged that someone would use the power for something so terrible."

Sakura nodded. "Still, I'm going to go visit the graves. Maybe they will tell me something."

"Do whatever will ease your mind," Syaoran said. "But just promise me that you won't go over there and mourn the fallen as if you are responsible. You have enough weight on your shoulders without taking on that burden."

"I promise," Sakura said. She took Syaoran's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Thank you for keeping me rooted."

Sakura moved away quickly then, giving Syaoran the chance to force down the heat in his face. He walked over to where Halling and everyone sat in the shade. Halling's wife had produced a myriad of chipped cups and bowls and a big jug of water.

"Thankfully the lake's still here," Halling's wife said, pouring water and handing them to each person in the group one-by-one. "And we were able to salvage some food. You're welcome to whatever we can spare before you leave."

"You're too kind, Mrs. Halling," Fay said.

"Even in light of disaster we must think of out fellow men. You've had a long, hard journey here yourself," Halling said. "Now, to business. Here's what I know. I'd gotten your first letter inquiring about that feather a few weeks ago, but didn't think anything of it until a couple of weird vendors came through town trying to sell off some junk. I went out there to chase them away and, wouldn't you know it, those bastards were trying to hawk that feather to Shamus!"

"Shamus is the man who's interested in alchemy, right?" Al said.

"That's right. Shamus wasn't the most skilled alchemist ever, but he was the closest thing we had around here," Halling said. "Anyway, they were showing him that feather and saying that it would boost his alchemic reactions one hundred times. And they wanted a bundle for it too. But even if Shamus had the money, he wouldn't've bought it in a million years. Said it gave him the willies. I told the two to get lost and they left without too much resistance. But they did ask if there were any other alchemists in town who might be interested before they finally left. I told them to stick their noses where the sun don't shine."

"Just what did these two look like?" Ed asked, his arms crossed. "Maybe a really pretty lady and a short, fat guy?"

"That was them all right," Halling's wife said. "You hit the nail on the head."

"They were real weird," Kyle said. "The little one tried to eat my fishing pole!"

"You know them, Elric?" Halling asked.

"Yes sir, we do," Ed said. "Too well. Those are bad, bad… people. If you ever see them again, just try to get as far away as possible."

"Well, they won't be coming back to this place," Halling said. "There's no one left here to hawk to."

"But if Shamus didn't buy the feather, who did?" Syaoran said. "Another person in town?"

"No one in this town is stupid enough to buy from those fools," Halling said. "Nah, I chased them off and no one so much as breathed the same air as they did. And right after they left, that's when I sent you a reply letter, Elric. I got your letter back a couple weeks later saying you were on your way here. Well, just a few days after that, who of all people would show up but that bastard Yoki."

"Honey, language," Halling's wife scolded. "You'll give your son ideas."

"People like Yoki are why curses were invented," Halling said, his face filling with red. "If my son didn't refer to Yoki as a bastard, I'd get upset."

Kyle opened his mouth: "Yeah, the bast—!"

But a sharp look from his father cut him off.

"Anyway, Yoki came sauntering into town in broad daylight. I could've sworn he was drunk," Hlling said. "He was half-crazed and waving that feather around as if it were some object we should all get down on our knees and worship. I told him if he didn't get out that instant, I was going to chain him in the mine until he died of exposure. He told me that I could kiss my mine goodbye."

"He kept saying that the feather was a gift," Mrs. Halling said. "A divine gift that would give him back all that was taken from him. He only need say the word and everything would change. He was a man possessed. I've never believed in spirits or demons, but after seeing Yoki that day, I'm thinking of buying a rosary."

"Yeah, but for all his talk, he was as harmless as a rabbit," Halling said. "He looked like he was concentrating very hard, but absolutely nothing happened. We all started laughing and chased him out of town. He ran off weeping and stumbling, the little pathetic wimp.

"But that night is when it happened," Halling closed his eyes. "I was out back securing the horses when this brilliant light turned night into day. There was a rumble just like an earthquake and then the ground glowed purple. Colored lightening shot out from the ground and seemed to poke holes in the homes and all the buildings collapsed just like that. I watched as my own home came crashing to the ground with my wife and son still inside. Thank god most people had the sense to dive under a table or bed before the whole house came done."

"We were able to crawl out after everything had settled down," Mrs. Halling said, drawing Kyle closer. "I have never been so scared in my entire life! I thought for sure I'd lost everyone."

"That was an alchemic reaction if I've ever heard one," Ed said, his hand on his chin. "And you say the ground everywhere glowed purple? Are you sure sections weren't done at a time?"

"No, the entire town was gone in one moment," Halling said. "One minute everything was fine and the next it was like the town had never been."

"That's way too strong for any conventional alchemy I've ever head of," Al said. "A whole town obliterated in a moment? That's… unthinkable."

"How are you sure it was Yoki?" Fay asked. "Did you see him?"

"No, but I heard him. I heard him laughing his puny little head off," Halling said. "It echoed through the entire town. I'm positive it was him."

"But Yoki was no alchemist," Ed said. "He couldn't even recognize that I'd put a temporary reaction on that lead. He was absolutely positive it was gold. And that's first year basic identification. How on earth could he produce an alchemic reaction big enough to wipe out the entire town?"

"I bet it's the feather," Kurogane said. "He had no idea what he was doing. He just pressed buttons until he got this reaction. Sometimes a fool's ignorance is his strength."

"Yeah, but there are no 'buttons' in alchemy," Ed said. "It's not that simple. There needs to be a very complicated transmutation circle and a specific goal in mind."

"_You_ don't use transmutation circles, Ed-kun," Fay said. "And I'm pretty sure Yoki had a specific goal in mind when Halling's town came tumbling down."

"Well, regardless of how it happened, it did happen," Halling said. "And now you should try to find Yoki and keep him from doing anything else like this."

"But before that," Ed said. He stood up and rolled up a sleeve. "Let's see about repairing some of these buildings."

"Oh, can you, Edward-san?" Mrs. Halling said, tears coming to her eyes. "It would be a miracle."

"As long as every part of the building is here," Ed said. "Every splinter."

"I swept it all up in hopes you'd help us," Halling said. "It's all ready for you."

"Alright," Ed said. "Everyone, stand back. This is going to be a really strong reaction and I'd like to keep from making any of you part of the building."

When Ed was satisfied with everyone's distance, he clapped his hands. The sound reverberated off the valley around them. Ed kneeled down and put his hands on the rubble.

And… nothing. Nothing in the rubble moved so much as a molecule.

"Where's the fireworks?" Kurogane said after a few seconds.

"I'm not sure," Ed said. He looked at his hands. "I felt the transmutation, but there was no reaction. I'll try again."

He repeated the process. And still there was no visible result.

"Could some of the building be missing?" Syaoran said. "You said every splinter had to be there. What if it isn't?"

Ed shook his head. "If that were the case, it would still transmute. It would collapse again right away, but it would still transmute. This is like there's nothing happening at all. Like there's a dampening effect."

"Are you sure you're doing it right?" Kurogane said.

Ed glared at Kurogane.

"Could it be something with the materials?" Al said. "I've never heard of anything being untransmutable, but maybe something in the pile is neutralizing the reaction."

"Quick, someone give me something else to transmute," Ed said, holding out a hand.

Fay rummaged through a nearby pack and pulled out a cookware set. "Here you are," he said, setting the pile at Ed's feet. "Transmute away."

Ed clapped and put his hands to the cookware. After a brief flash of colored lights, Ed stepped back to reveal a masterful statue of himself.

"Well at least we know there's nothing wrong with me," Ed said, looking relieved. He put a hand to his chin and turned back to the pile of rubble. "But why won't this transmute? What's wrong?"

"Edward-san," Sakura said, approaching Ed. She held out Bernd's silver pocket watch. "Try this."

Ed took the watch from Sakura and studied it briefly. "I think I know where you're going with this."

Once again, Ed clapped and put his hands to the watch. Nothing happened.

"What does it mean?" Halling said.

"It means," Ed said. "That anything transmuted by the feather amplifier can't be transmuted again. Something about the way the amplifier triggers the alchemic reaction must render the object immune to a second transmutation. Bernd must've used this watch for something…"

Ed opened the pocket watch. "I thought so. Did anyone bother to look inside? It's not a watch anymore; it's a compass. Bernd must've transmuted it with the amplifier."

"I've never heard of anything like that," Al said. "Everything is the world is just a rearrangement of elements. How could a reaction with the amplifier stop the natural order of deconstruction, rearrangement, and reconstruction?"

"Maybe…" Sakura said. Her voice was so quiet that no one was sure she'd said anything until she continued. "Maybe the feather gives someone one chance to use its power correctly. It limits the number of times something can be changed so if it becomes something horrible, at least it can't become something even more horrible."

"Yeah, well, that's a pretty stupid rule," Ed said. "Because I could've done something to help these people. Now I can't."

At this, Mrs. Halling burst into tears and turned into her husband's arms.

"It's okay, Dearest," Halling said, patting her back. "We'll get by. It'll just take some good old-fashioned elbow grease. We'll rebuild and it'll be better than before. You'll see."

"Why did this happen to us?" Mrs Halling said. "What did we do to deserve this?"

Sakura gently tugged the pocket watch-turned-compass out of Ed's hand and wandered back over to the graveyard. Syaoran followed her after a moment's hesitation.

"What's eating her?" Ed said, mostly to Al. Al shook his head.

"Sakura-chan doesn't like to see others suffer," Fay said. "And she hates it even more when there's nothing she can do to help."

"Well, I feel pretty bad too, but you don't see me going around sulking in graveyards," Ed said. He turned to Al. "Come on, Al. Let's see if there's anything at all in this town that'll take to a transmutation."

"We should get a sample of the soil too and send it to Mustang in your report," Al said. "The researchers in Central may find it useful."

"Yeah, I guess I should get around to writing that bastard his stupid report," Ed said. "Otherwise we'll find the military tracking us down as if we'd gone AWOL."

"Ed-kun, can I assume we'll be setting up camp here for the night?" Fay said.

"Yeah, let's do it," Ed said. "This grass isn't as nice as a bed, but it's better than sleeping on the rocks like we've been for the last few days."

"And you can use the lake to wash up," Mrs. Halling said, wiping her teary face on her apron. "I can tell you're in desperate need of one."

Fay grinned. "Is it that bad?"

Halling, his wife, and Kyle all nodded vigorously.

* * *

From the very top of the caved-in mine high above the town, two figures stood watching the group below.

"You've done well, Yoki. Very well."

Lust slid up behind the small man and put her hands on his shoulders. She leaned down and whispered the next words into his ear.

"Now, you just need to kill them," she said. Her breath beat on Yoki's cheek. "Kill them all except the girl. She must live. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Yoki said. The pupils of his eyes had contracted to pinpoints as he watched the group scurry around below him like ants. "The girl lives. Everyone else dies."

"Then you will get your wish," Lust said. "The whole town will be yours. Just do as I've taught you. This is why I showed you the Gate. Make them pay for what they've taken from you."

Yoki clutched the feather close to his chest.

* * *

End note: I do have a very clear idea of where I want this story to go, but I have to confess that it no longer synchs up well at all with the revelations made in the TRC manga. (And, to be completely honest, I really have no idea what's going on there. CLAMP, I love you, but throw me a bone here and be coherent once in a while, would ya?) Anyway, I hope people aren't too angry when things go a little off-track in the next few chapters as far as the plotline of TRC is concerned. Basically, I'm taking the X Tokyo arc and smooshing roughly into the FMA world. If that doesn't sound good to you, you may want to stop reading… But I thank you much for coming this far! Reviews, as always, are appreciated more than I can ever say. Until next time.


	10. What Comes Around

A/N: Three cheers for plot development and badass fight scenes. Enjoy!

Also, a big thanks to my beta readers: Mirror and Image. You girls were great!

* * *

**Chapitre.X: What Comes Around**

Yous Well Lake was a misnomer. It was actually a huge underwater spring that the town had been build around. The townspeople didn't usually permit people to bathe in their only water source, but now that there were no townspeople, that rule was abandoned. Fay had stripped down to his thin white pants and, with Mokona hanging onto his shoulder, jumped into the lake moments after Mrs. Halling had suggested a bath.

"Don't just stand there, Kuro-pu!" Fay said, waving to Kurogane who stood on the dock above him with arms crossed. "The water's nice! And you could use the bath."

"Just what are you implying?" Kurogane said.

"Mokona, would you say it's like a decaying rat stink, or more of a dung in a molding canvass bag stink?" Fay said to the little white blob on his shoulder.

"Both!" Mokona chirped. "Times a hundred!"

"And what about you? I'm not the idiot who wrapped himself in a freaking parka in the desert for the last three days!" Kurogane yelled.

"Well, I'm not the one refusing to bathe," Fay said. He grinned and disappeared under the water.

Kurogane glanced around to make sure no one was looking and then lifted his arm to take a whiff. He made no expression, but his eyes watered a bit. Grumbling, he began stripping down to his undershirt and pants (all black, of course.) Just as he'd gotten his last boot off, he felt someone rushing at him from behind. He sidestepped at the last second and watched Fay lose his balance off the end of the dock and splash into the lake. Fay bobbed to the surface a few moments later, looking sour.

"Teh!" Kurogane said, grinning wolfishly. "Did you really just try to sneak up on a ninj—?"

"Super PUSH!"

Kurogane uttered a grumble of surprise as he found himself pushed clear of the dock and hanging over open water. The splash he made as he entered the lake's calm surface created powerful waves to rival those in the ocean. Seconds later, Kurogane exploded from the water, creating a small rainstorm.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU MORONS!" he roared and made a lunge for Mokona.

"Revenge of Kurozilla!" Mokona said, seconds before being snatched up by Kurogane and hurled to the other side of the lake.

"Seems this Big Doggie doesn't like baths," Fay said, lazily backstroking away from Kurogane.

"Yeah, and when I'm finished with you, you ain't either," Kurogane said, making a wild grab.

Fay easily dodged and countered by splashing Kurogane in the face.

From where Syaoran stood with Sakura in the makeshift graveyard, the sounds of splashing and Mokona's high-pitched squeal of fake terror floated over to them, echoing off the valley walls.

"Sounds like they're having fun," Syaoran said.

Beside him, Sakura was bending down to place a dandelion—the closest thing she could find to a flower out here—on one of the graves.

"They won't talk to me," Sakura said. Her voice was wavering and small.

"What?" Syaoran said. "Who?"

"Them," Sakura said, her hand hovering over a grave as if it world electrocute her if she touched it. "They're still here, but too shocked and scared to move on. They're upset and wandering and lost, but they won't talk to me. They won't even look at me."

She looked up at Syaoran, tears in her eyes. "I think they sense that it was my power that did this to them. And so they want nothing to do with me."

Syaoran looked out into the remains of the town, unable to see the lost souls that Sakura saw. He wished very much that he could, if only to tell them what a kind-hearted, wonderful person Sakura was and that they had no right to be angry with her. She was innocent.

"You don't know that's the reason they are ignoring you," Syaoran said. "Maybe they don't see you at all just like I can't see them. Like you said, they're still in shock. Give them some time to adjust to the trauma. They may yet come around."

Sakura breathed in deeply, "Yes. You're right. Sometimes I see spirits that don't see me. Maybe they're just not in the right state of mind to communicate."

She looked up at Syaoran with just the glimmer of a smile. "You did it again. You kept me rooted. You and everyone never let my imagination get too much of me."

They sat in silence for a few moments. Sakura's eyes followed around some unseen person.

"What do you think about the feather stopping alchemy?" Sakura said. "When I first heard Edward-san say what the feather did, I was relieved. I felt like it was a good thing. But now that I've really thought about it, I'm so torn. The feather still allows destruction, but won't allow someone else to help. And it may force whoever has the feather to just go on making more destruction in a different area."

"I do believe a part of you resides in those feathers even when separated from you," Syaoran said. "And it could very well be that the remnants of your will are limiting the power used with the feather. But don't forget that we're in a different world and the laws of nature could be slightly different than the laws of nature in Clow. The way alchemy reacts with the otherworldly power of the feather could be causing the neutralizing effect, not your will. The fact is that we may never know exactly why the feather is doing what it does, but the most important thing to do now is to get it back. That's what we need to focus on."

Sakura nodded. "I want this feather back more than I've ever wanted one before. This one is just too awful, Syaoran-kun. I wish we could find it. We haven't even come close yet."

"Mokona's on the lookout," Syaoran said. "And tomorrow we'll head out bright and early and hopefully not run into anymore things like this that will slow us down."

Sakura shivered—a strange thing for her to do in the heat. "I certainly hope we don't run into anything more like this. I don't think my heart can handle it."

After a moment's hesitation, Syaoran put both his hands on the girl's shoulders and turned her toward him to look her directly in the eyes.

"I promise you that I will do everything in my power to get this feather and all the others back to you as soon as possible," Syaoran said. "I will find them all—I swear it."

Sakura began to smile, but her expression turned to shock when Syaoran suddenly doubled over and slapped his hand to his left eye with a grunt of pain.

"Syaoran-kun, what's wrong?" Sakura said, reaching out, but not quite touching him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Syaoran said, rubbing his left eye. "I just felt a pang. There must've been something in my eye." He blinked a few times and then smiled at Sakura. "Sorry to worry you. I think I'm okay now."

"That's your blind eye, isn't it?" Sakura said. She moved in closer to inspect Syaoran's face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," Syaoran said. "And besides, I'm already blind in that eye. It couldn't get much worse."

"That's no excuse not to take care of yourself," Sakura said. "If it's an infection, it could spread to your other eye. Just be careful. And if you feel any more pain, please tell me. Maybe we could get your eye examined somewhere in this world if we have to."

"Really, I'm fine," Syaoran said.

Sakura reached out and took Syaoran's hand. The boy instantly flushed red, and leaned back ever so slightly.

"I always want to know if you're in pain," Sakura said. "Don't hide it from me, okay? Don't play it tough. We have Kurogane-san for that."

"O—okay," Syaoran said, wondering if his face was as beet red as it felt. "But please don't worry. I—I've never felt better."

Sakura studied his face for a moment before letting go of Syaoran's hand and standing up. "I'm going to look for more dandelions. Maybe some flowers if I can find any."

"Be careful," Syaoran said. "Don't go too far."

"I won't," Sakura said. She wandered away, moving toward a patch of green grass not too far from the wreckage of the inn where the Hallings were still pawing through the rubble for salvageable items.

Syaoran watched Sakura move around the patch of grass while he resisted the urge to rub his eye just in case the girl were to turn around and catch him. Of course, Syaoran wasn't going to tell Sakura that his eye had been throbbing on and off for weeks now. He wasn't going to tell her that sometimes he could see things through his left eye; things that he didn't recognize and that were certainly not on the same physical plane as he was. He couldn't tell Sakura these things just like he couldn't tell her his true feelings for her. It pained him to lie to her, but he felt like, in the end, it was the kinder thing.

The unmistakable sound of Al's clanking armor stirred Syaoran out of his grim reverie. He turned around to see Ed and Al approaching. Ed clutched a small glass vile of dirt in his left hand.

"This whole area is like an alchemic dead zone," Ed said to Syaoran once he was within earshot. "I couldn't so much as transmute one blade of grass into another here. But the ground just beyond the edge of the village is fine. Whoever did this definitely had it in for this town."

"What are you doing with that vial of soil?" Syaoran asked.

"Sending it to my superiors in my next report," Ed said. "They'll want it for analysis."

"Can you imagine if they're able to duplicate the effect?" Al said. "You could make anything immune to alchemy. It would be a huge advantage in any war."

"Yeah, well I don't like it one bit," Ed said. "It's unnatural."

Fay approached the group then, carrying Mokona and wearing an entirely different outfit than he had been when he left for the lake. His robe had been replaced by a set of khaki pants and red suspenders over a billowy white linen shirt.

"What do you think of my new look? The clothes were recovered from the ruins and Halling-san said I could have them," Fay said. "A much better choice than my robe in this climate, don't you think?"

"I'd almost mistake you for a normal person," Ed said.

"What did you do with your robe?" Al said. "It looked too expensive just to throw away."

"I gave it to Mokona for safe-keeping, of course," Fay said. He hugged Mokona who had gone back into toy mode with the Hallings so close.

"Where's Kurogane?" Syaoran said.

Fay grinned. "I suspect he's looking for his clothes. I hid them very well. He'll be searching for hours."

Mokona giggled discretely.

* * *

The sun set rapidly after dinner. Mrs. Halling had made a thin rabbit stew with some salvaged food. To the travelers, it was the most substantial thing they'd eaten in days. The entire pot was gone in minutes and everyone relaxed into an after-dinner stupor between being alert and drowsy. The stars popped into existence one by one in the sky as the full moon brightened.

"Want a swig?" Halling said, holding out a beer bottle to the group on the other side of the fire. Kyle was asleep in his lap and Mrs. Halling was curled up on a blanket just a few feet away.

Fay reached out for the bottle with a gleam in his eye, but Kurogane shoved his arm down.

"These three are never allowed to drink in my presence again," Kurogane said. "You have no idea the horror you'd unleash."

"Besides, most of us are still underage," Ed said. "You'd be aiding the delinquency of a minor."

Halling smiled. "I forget sometimes, Elric. That look in your eye makes you seem about ten years older, despite appearances."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Huh? What look?"

"The look that you've experienced everything a parent tries to protect his children from," Halling said. He put a hand on Kyle's shoulder. "The burden of the world on your shoulders."

The man's eyes flicked over to where Syaoran's group was sitting. "You four have the look too."

Fay said, "Well. And here I thought I was doing a good job hiding it."

"It's something you can't hide," Halling said. He nodded in the direction of Ed and Al. "How did you get mixed up with these two kids?"

"We're both looking for the same thing," Syaoran said. "The feather."

"Are you alchemists too?" Halling asked.

"No," Syaoran said. "But finding the feather is important to us."

"Important for what?" Halling asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Don't worry, Halling-san," Fay said. "We have no interest in using the feather."

"In fact, we're on a mission to make sure no one ever uses the feather again," Sakura said, her voice loud and resolute. "I can't stand the thought of it being out there for one more second."

Halling sat back a bit. "That's a relief. You can't possibly try to use that thing for any sort of personal goal. From what I've heard, it corrupts people. Taints minds and brings out the worst in humanity."

"Only in the weak," Ed said immediately. "Any kind of alchemy, even amplified alchemy, can be controlled and used as a force for good. You just have to have the stronger will."

"Are you saying that you have the will to wield the power of the feather for good, Ed-kun?" Fay said, looking at Ed out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes," Ed said. "Of course I do."

Syaoran glared at Ed from across the fire, scrutinizing him. "Just what do you want with the feather? I thought you were here because the military ordered you to help us find it."

"I have orders," Ed said. "Very specific orders. My career is on the line here. And there are other things at stake that you couldn't understand even if you tried."

"Ed-kun," Fay said. He had his head in his chin as he smirked sideways at Ed. "Are you saying that we'll have to fight you for the feather?"

Syaoran tensed and Kurogane moved ever so slightly to put his hand on his sword.

"That's exactly what I'm sa—" Ed said.

"MEKYO!"

Mokona, with big purple eyes open wide, leaped up in the air. Halling yelped and jumped back, dropping Kyle off his lap. The group, already tense, had risen to their feet out of shock. Kurogane had pulled out his sword and Syaoran was yelling for Hien, which Mokona quickly released.

"That thing's alive?" Halling yelled, pulling his dazed son off the ground. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's okay, Halling-san," Al said. "It's a… friend."

"Mokona!" Syaoran said, once Hien was safely in his hands. "The feather—it's here?"

Mokona, still floating in the air, lifted an ear as if listening to a faint melody. "Yes. It's very close."

"Where?" Kurogane said.

"Just beyond the town," Mokona said. "The feather isn't moving. Like it's waiting."

"A trap?" Al said.

"Most likely," Kurogane said. "Or we're being spied on."

"Or both," Ed said. He turned to Halling. "Stay here. This chimera senses the feather nearby. I think Yoki's come back to the scene of the crime. As long as you stay within the borders of the town, you can't be hurt by alchemy. And I'm sure you can take Yoki in hand-to-hand combat if he tries to assault you here."

Halling pulled Kyle close. "You be careful out there. If he could bring down a building, I'd hate to see what he could do to a human being."

Ed nodded and followed the rest of the group as they headed for the edge of town. They were all completely silent as they entered the open desert, the only sound being the sand shifting under their feet and Al's clanking armor. The moon was bright in the cloudless sky, bathing the desert in a soft blue glow.

Mokona gave them directions, acting as a homing beacon to navigate the dunes. After only a few minutes of walking, Mokona told them to stop.

"Straight ahead," Mokona said. "That is where Mokona can feel the feather waiting."

There, maybe fifty yards away, was a rock jutting up from the sand. On its surface sat the feather, emitting a soft white light.

Ed and Syaoran stole glances at one another and tensed as if daring the other to make the first move. As they watched, a light desert breeze plucked at the feather's delicate form, threatening to blow it out of reach. Syaoran bit his lip and Ed murmured a curse. The wind picked up and at the same moment they both bounded forward.

"Syaoran-kun!" Sakura said, taking off after them.

"Stop you morons!" Kurogane roared. "It's a trap!"

Kurogane barely had time to get the words out before a bright red ring formed on the sand in a twenty-yard radius around the stone. Sheets of what looked like glass shot out from the glowing sand and angled in such a way as to create a makeshift dome that encased Ed, Syaoran, and Sakura inside. Sakura stopped and watched the barrier go up, but Ed and Syaoran paid little attention to what was happening around them.

The two boys reached the center of the dome at the same time and made a wild grab for the feather. But the moment before either of them laid a hand on it, the feather dimmed, crinkled, and disintegrated like a flower wilting on fast-forward.

"What the!" Ed exclaimed.

"It's a decoy," Syaoran said, backing away.

A new voice from behind chimed: "You're the decoy. So I'm told."

Syaoran didn't have time to turn around before he felt something connect with his gut that sent him flying backward. He hit the sand and slid several feet, coming to a stop only when his head cracked against the glass that made up the south side of the dome.

His vision filled with stars; he couldn't tell if he was moving his limbs or if it was just his head swimming as he struggled to make his lungs work.

Somewhere distantly he could hear Sakura calling his name through the ringing in his ears.

_Sakura… I'm sorry._

In the middle of the dome, Ed recovered from watching Syaoran take the hit and whirled around to face his attacker.

"You!" Ed growled, transmuting his automail into a blade. "Give me the feather, Yoki! Don't make me hurt you."

The figure of a boney man stood only feet from Ed, his shoulders hunched. Ed gulped as he realized that just a shadow of the man he once knew appeared before him. Yoki's eyes, which had been small and beady to begin with, were now dark and lifeless. He stared at Ed with such hatred that Ed could almost feel it.

"You can't hurt me, Edward Elric," Yoki spat the name as if it were a curse, his voice grated on itself like sandpaper. "You've already killed me. Taken everything. I want you to pay. Like I paid. With everything. It'll be an equal trade."

Ed scoffed. "You can't even string a sentence together. Am I really supposed to be scar—?"

"It's all a circle!" Yoki said.

He clapped his hands together, held them there tightly, and shut his eyes.

"They say what goes around, comes around," Yoki said. "They just say it. Well, I say that I saw it come around! I saw how the water we drink is thousands of years old because it's sucked into the air only to rain back down. How one tree can rain down thousands of its seeds and animals are born only to reproduce again and again. One bacterium splits itself and those split and those split and they can cover the Earth!"

Yoki opened his eyes to stare at Edward again. Ed shifted, wondering if he could just strike now and finish it instead of letting the insane little man rant. But something about what he was saying touched Ed deep in a dark corner of his mind. It made the backs of his eyes itch.

"All these cycles of life and death," he said. "And you're going to tell me that I shouldn't kill you? That you should somehow be immune to the cycle? I won't stand for it! I will take everything from you. The Circle demands it."

Yoki unclasped his hands and threw them to the ground. Ed only had a moment to be shocked by that fact that Yoki didn't need a transmutation circle before he found himself frantically dodging shards of glass that popped out of the sand as if they were being fired from a machine gun.

As Ed ran, he noticed, with the very small part of his brain that wasn't currently occupied, that Yoki's transmutations were extremely sloppy. If the man had been trained in the use of alchemy at all, Ed wouldn't have stood a chance in such an enclosed space. After all, it would only take a basic understanding of the elements that made up the air inside the dome to know that he could turn it into a burning inferno and cook Ed alive. But what Yoki lacked in precision and finesse, he made up with a terrifying amount of power and speed. What little he did know how to do, he did it over and over with no rest in between. It didn't seem to tire him like normal alchemy. And he seemed to know about the feather's limitations because he never did anything too big, lest he give Ed a dead zone where he would have relative safety.

Yoki paused his assault for only a moment, which gave Ed just enough time to attempt to transmute a spear from the sand. But the sand was too brittle and quickly disintegrated in his hands. A stalagmite of glass exploded just inches from him and he was on the run again.

Meanwhile, Sakura was running to where Syaoran was laying barely conscious on the sand beside the clear barrier. Kurogane, Fay, and Al with Mokona on his shoulder stood on the other side trying to find a way in.

"This isn't glass!" Kurogane said, pounding the surface of the dome. "It's about a thousand times thicker."

"Not to mention more durable. I don't suppose you can easily slash it with a sword," Fay said. "Perhaps we can dig underneath it."

Al shook his head. "I saw the barrier come up. It must run deep to keep this kind of stability. But was have to get in somehow. Nii-san can't keep that pace up much longer. Yoki'll kill him!"

Back inside the barrier, Sakura knelt by Syaoran's still form.

"Syaoran-kun!" Sakura cried, putting her hands on Syaoran's shoulders. His eyes were open, but unfocused and swimming. "Please be okay! Edward-san needs your help."

"Princess," he said. He didn't look at her when he said it. He couldn't. "Run. Keep moving."

"You're hurt," Sakura said. "I can't just leave you here."

"Please go," he said. "I can't protect you right now. I know I promised it, but I can't…"

He trailed off and his body went limp as if he'd gone unconscious, but his eyes were still open. For a few dreadful moments, Sakura thought he had stopped breathing. But just as she started to panic, Syaoran sat up like as if he were being pulled up by invisible strings.

"Are you alright?" Sakura said. "Please say something."

He whipped his head to look at her. Sakura got the most curious feeling, as if she were staring into a mirror at the boy.

"Kid?" Kurogane asked, voice muffled from behind the barrier where he and Fay exchanged glances.

"I will find them all," Syaoran said, his voice without inflection. "I swear it."

And then he was on his feet and rushing at Yoki with Hien tight in his grip.

Bullets still flying at him, Ed took a running leap and landed beside the stone in the center of the dome. He managed to transmute the stone into a rock barrier and kneeled behind it, panting. But with Yoki just feet away showering the barrier with glass shards, the makeshift shield quickly began to crumble. Ed attempted to skewer Yoki by transmuting the sand around the crazed man into spears of sandstone, but none of his blind assaults connected. Feeling like he had no other option, Ed took a deep breath and prepared to rush Yoki with his bladed automail.

And then, suddenly, all the noise stopped. Ed heard what sounded like a big sack of cement fall to the ground. He chanced a look through the cracks in the rock and saw Syaoran standing over Yoki's unconscious form, the hilt of his sword having had connected with the back of Yoki's head. Ed sprang out from behind his barrier just as it crumbled.

"You didn't need to do that," Ed said. "I had it under control."

Without a word or even a glance in Ed's direction, Syaoran reached down to lift the feather, glowing brightly, from Yoki's pocket.

Ed's breath caught in his lungs. There had never been a doubt in his mind that the feather existed, but to see it within feet of him brought a whole flood of emotion that he wasn't expecting. All his guilt, pain, and misery seemed to evaporate in its presence. He hadn't wanted anything so badly since the day he and his brother stood before the grave of their mother.

Syaoran looked down at the feather in his hand and his demeanor instantly changed. He doubled over and put a hand to his head as if just suddenly realizing he was injured.

"The feather?" he murmured, staring in awe at it in his hand. "How?"

"Are you okay?" Ed said. "You don't look so good. I should hold onto that."

He held out his hand for the feather.

Syaoran looked at the outstretched hand and glared, pulling the object closer to him.

"This doesn't belong to you," Syaoran said.

"It doesn't belong to you either," Ed snapped.

"You don't have any idea what this is," Syaoran warned. "It has a proper place. Haven't you seen the damage it's done? The lives it's ruined? It's dangerous and shouldn't ever be used again."

"Don't tell me that you don't plan on using it for your own purposes," Ed lowered his eyes at Syaoran. "You said Princess is sick and the amplifier can cure her. None of you know the first thing about alchemy. Talk about dangerous. Maybe I can help you use it safely and in return you can let me—"

"You don't understand," Syaoran said, turning his back on Ed and walking away toward Sakura.

"No, you don't understand!" Ed shouted. Syaoran stopped, but didn't turn around.

"We have so little hope these days," Ed said, voice barely above a whisper. "The things we saw in that hell they called the Fifth Laboratory… It made everything so complicated. This may be our only chance. Don't you get it?"

Ed thought of Al, trapped in his iron prison and stripped of any true sensation.

"I can't take back what I've done to us," Ed said. "I can't make it right. But maybe I can repair it a little. And if I have to make some sacrifices, lose some friends, or fight for it, you better believe I will."

"How touching," a female voice said from behind Ed, the sound freezing the blood in his veins.

Ed and Syaoran whipped around to see a strikingly beautiful woman with pale skin and long black hair standing before them. Her slender fingers were on her chin and a devilish smirk was on her lips.

"Lust," Ed said for Syaoran's benefit. "She's another one of the homunculi. Watch out for her claws."

"I'll save you the trouble of a fight," Lust said. "Just be good boys and hand over the feather. After all, you said it yourself: it's dangerous."

She took a step forward, holding out a hand. "Come now, don't make this hard on yourself."

Syaoran and Ed only saw Kurogane come up behind Lust moments before his sword flashed and impaled the homunculus through the chest. Kurogane withdrew the blade and Lust looked down at the gaping wound and grinned wolfishly before falling to the ground. A substance that was too bright to be blood pooled around her curvaceous form.

"How did you get in here?" Syaoran said. Fay, Al, and Mokona were close behind Kurogane.

"That one bit a hole through the barrier," Fay said, pointing past Syaoran.

Syaoran and Ed turned around to see Gluttony standing there in ape posture with his tongue rolled out and a gleeful expression on his face.

Kurogane rushed at Gluttony, who simply rolled out of the way at the last moment and stood a few feet off as if taunting the ninja to try again.

"Tch," Kurogane said. "He's surprisingly light on his… stomach."

"Careful," Al said, looking warily down at Lust. "They don't stay dead for long."

"Princess!" Syaoran said to the girl running toward the group. "Stay back!"

"The feather!" Sakura said breathlessly, reaching out. "Please give it to me! Let this all end now."

Al saw Lust's eyes flash open, but before he could warn anyone she swiped viciously with her impossibly long claws in a circle around her. Her attack connected with Al's left side, leaving three gouges in his armor. Fay managed to dodge, but just barely. A few of his silver hairs fell to the sand. He and Al scattered when Gluttony came charging from behind, Kurogane on his tale.

Lust was up and rushing Syaoran, who still had the feather in his grip. Syaoran aimed for the claws on Lust's right hand with an uppercut with his sword. But Lust simply retracted the claws on her right hand and slashed with her left, forcing Syaoran back towards where Sakura had come to a stop. Ed joined them, his bladed automail flashing in the moonlight.

Syaoran only had a split-second to think about his next move. He turned to Sakura, yelled at her to brace herself, and pushed the feather against her chest.

Sakura went rigid and her eyes glazed over as the feather began sinking—ever so slowly—into the portal that had formed inches above her breast. Sakura sighed, feeling the feather brush the edges of her memory as unconsciousness pulled her in.

"Hey!" Ed shouted, staring at Sakura. "What are you doing to it?"

"Gluttony!" Lust said as she took a few well-aimed swipes at Syaoran and Ed, separating them from Sakura. Lust rushed them, pushing them further away from the girl.

Gluttony rolled out from under yet another of Kurogane's precision attacks, dodged a roundhouse from Al, and then launched himself at Sakura. He landed on all fours on her chest, bit onto the end of the feather that was still exposed, and kicked at Sakura's body with his stumpy little legs. He used the momentum of the two of them falling in opposite directions to rip the feather out of the portal.

Sakura's eyes went wide and she screamed, her voice reverberating off the barrier. Even having a limb pulled off couldn't be much more painful. The fall to the sand knocked the wind out of her and she rolled onto her stomach, gagging and struggling to breathe. Her head and chest throbbed with each erratic beat of her heart.

Ed, streaming curses, took off after Gluttony as the homunculus headed for the edges of the barrier. "Al! Stop him! Corner him—do something!"

"Sakura-san!" Al said. "Is she okay?"

"Al!" Ed yelled. "Gluttony has the amplifier. Get him!"

Ed ran after Gluttony and Al, after a moment's hesitation, followed. The two joined Kurogane and Fay who were attempting to corner the homunculus against the barrier.

Syaoran watched Sakura fall and, as his heart wrenched, his left eye exploded with pain. The pain threatened to black him out, just as he'd gone unconscious back at the beginning of the fight with Yoki only to wake up with the feather in his hand. He fought the blackness welling up inside him and the pain in his eye receded just enough to where he could tell which way was up and which was down.

"You intrigue me," Lust said. She had gotten very close as he had fought to stay conscious, but Syaoran was unable to discern where she was exactly. He couldn't see anything except the blurry sand and something else: a strange room that appeared to be entirely underwater.

"You are more like us than you realize," Lust said. "I want to dissect you; to find out how someone was able to stuff a soul into your lifeless vessel. I want what you have."

"You're a monster," Syaoran said. "The weight of a soul would crush you."

"You're one to talk," Lust said. "With every sad smile and twinge of heartache, the seal weakens. It won't be long before it shatters. And we can't have the real you running loose to be formidable competition."

Syaoran head stopped swimming momentarily, long enough to know the general direction where Lust's voice was coming from. He struck out with Hien, but hit only empty air. This caused him to lose his balance, dropping him on one knee to the sand. In his mind's eye, he could see Lust's claws aiming right for his heart, but there was no time to move—

He braced and waited to feel the claws pierce his chest, but after several moments, he realized that the pain was not coming. He opened his eyes and saw Sakura standing over him, her arms flung wide. Lust had her claws extended, inches above Sakura's own chest.

Lust frowned. "Move, you foolish girl. I don't have to kill you to cripple you."

Sakura shook her head.

Lust advanced, but Sakura stood her ground. Using Hien as a strut, Syaoran tried to get up, but the entire left side of his body seemed not to be working.

"Sakura—don't!" Syaoran said. "Run."

A thrill ran up Sakura's spine at the sound of Syaoran calling her name, but she ignored his command.

Above them, there was a creaking noise. It sounded like the wood in an old ship straining against rough waters. All three of them looked up to see cracks in the barrier zigzagging from the bottom to the top as if being painted there by some invisible hand.

"The little monster's eaten through the base of the dome on all sides!" Kurogane yelled, taking another futile swipe at Gluttony with his sword. "It's about to come crashing down!"

"Sakura-san, Syaoran-san, look out!" Al said, pointing above the two of them and Lust.

A large of chunk of the barrier had broken away from the very top of the dome and was falling toward them. Lust grimaced and sprang away. Syaoran reached out, gabbed Sakura around the waist, and poured all the forward momentum he could muster into a roll. The two of them ended up just yards away from where a chunk of the clear barrier about the size of a car landed on the ground, spraying sand in all directions.

Syaoran and Sakura wiped the sand from their eyes to see Fay standing over them.

"No rest for the weary, you two," Fay said, pulling Syaoran off the ground. Mokona was clinging to Fay's shoulder. "We have to get out of here as quickly as possible. Can you walk?"

Syaoran and Sakura nodded.

"Good! Now, can you run?" Fay steered them towards one of the ever-widening holes in the dome where Gluttony's acidic saliva was eating away at the surface.

Syaoran took Sakura by the hand and forced his defiant body into a run. Pain jabbed into his head each time his foot landed on the ground. Sakura trailed after him, their grip straining as she struggled to keep up.

The three of them had just limped beyond the borders of the dome when it completely collapsed in on itself. The ground shook and a plume of dust rose into the air about fifty feet high.

"Alphonse-san!" Sakura yelled.

"Kurogane-san!" Syaoran yelled.

"Relax, you two," Kurogane's gruff voice sounded from behind them. "We're right here."

They turned around to see Kurogane, Ed, and Al standing there, Al with Yoki's unconscious body slung over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine too by the way," Ed said.

"Lust and Gluttony?" Syaoran said.

Fay shrugged. "Last I saw, they were very deliberately heading in the opposite direction."

Ed sighed. "They could be anywhere by now, including still watching us."

"We should spread out and search!" Kurogane said. "We can't just let them go. I almost had that little one."

"Sakura! Your leg…" Mokona said, pointing a stubby paw down toward Sakura's feet.

Everyone looked down to see a shard of the clear barrier about the size of a small diary lodged deep in the calf of Sakura's right leg through the material of her pants. The cloth around the shard was soaked with blood all the way down to her ankle.

"I—I'm okay," Sakura said, looking down at the wound to see it for the first time like everyone else.

"No you aren't, Sakura-chan," Fay said, leaning down to inspect the wound. "We need to get you back to town as soon as possible. And you need to get off that leg now."

Syaoran didn't say a word, but stepped over to Sakura and swept her up into his arms bridal-style. He began walking briskly toward town, pushing his own exhaustion from his mind.

"I think Mrs. Halling said something before about knowing first aid," Al said, keeping stride beside Syaoran. "We should take Sakura-san to her right away."

As they moved off, Ed lagged behind, turning around to stare into the moonlit distance. There, just dots on the horizon, he could see Lust and Gluttony strolling away. Ed let out a frustrated growl and stomped after the rest of the group, transmuting his automail back into its normal form.

He trained his gaze on Yoki, who flopped around limply on Al's shoulder.

_You better pray you never wake up_, Ed thought. _Because I want some answers and I will get them even if I have to beat them out of you_.

* * *

"They are _all_ still alive?" Envy said, crossing his arms. "You weren't able to kill even one of them? Sheesh, you're lucky that was only a secondary mission objective."

"They are a bit more challenging to kill than they look," Lust said, examining the feather. "Especially the little weasel white-haired one."

"Fay. His name is Fay. Please learn their names so I don't have to guess at which one you're talking about."

A tall, willowy man with slate gray hair tied back in a long pony-tail stood beside Envy. As he was talking, he wiped his small spectacles on the sleeve of his long, dark blue blazer.

"I know their names," Lust said. "I simply don't care enough to speak them."

"Be that as it may," Kyle Rondart said, replacing the spectacles on his nose. "I'd be grateful if you'd oblige."

Gluttony approached with a finger in his mouth, drool cascading down to his giant wrist as he stared up at Kyle with longing.

"Hey! How many times do I have to say it?" Envy said, placing a foot on Gluttony's face and pushing. "This human is off-limits unless the boss has a change of heart."

"You were right about the seal," Lust said. "If you hadn't told me about it, I would have had no idea what I was looking at, but it is unraveling itself. He even lost control to it during the battle."

"The seal is weak," Kyle said. "It won't be long before Syaoran reverts. We must be there when that happens."

"Oh, I wouldn't miss all the fun for the world," Envy said, grinning from ear to ear.

* * *

A/N: Wow. Two fight scenes in one chapter. Only the third time I've ever really written a fight scene. You know, probably the hardest part of this whole fic is keeping track of six major characters (well, seven if you count Mokona who I can never quite bring myself to leave out). It's hard to know when to stop the action to switch to another viewpoint without losing flow, cohesion, and the reader's attention. It's too much, even for an omnipotent narrator. That being said, any constructive criticism is appreciated. Thanks for reading and subjecting yourself to my literary experiments.

By the way, NO LOVE to the last chapter of T:RC. Ug.

Please review!

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	11. Yoki's Revenge

A/N: **Important! This chapter uses the spelling "Reole" instead of Lior.** This is the spelling in my official Japanese FMA fan guide and I'm sticking to it.

Again, thanks to my beta readers: Mirror and Image. Always a pleasure.

I'd like to warn everyone that I get mighty speculative in this chapter especially with regards to the Gate and how it binds the FMA and TRC universes together. I've done the best I can with the information I have. I hope you enjoy my little take on the subject as this story begins to slowly pull away from the official cannon in the coming chapters. Yay fanfiction! ;)

* * *

**Chapitre XI: Yoki's Revenge  
**

Mrs. Halling nearly had a heart attack when she saw the injury on Sakura's leg, but was quick to lay the girl on a cot that had been pulled from the rubble earlier and start first aid. The woman worked by the flickering light emanating from the fire at their make-shift camp to treat the wound as best she could. Syaoran and Al, with Mokona accompanying them, scrambled to fetch things as they were needed, but the quality of first aid supplies available in the rubble of the town was abysmal. After a short discussion with Fay about the pros and cons of closing the wound, Mrs. Halling decided it was still bleeding too freely to hope it would clot. She used a sewing needle and fishing wire sterilized in boiling water to suture the gaping cut.

One or two tears leaked from Sakura's eyes as she winced each time the needle poked into her skin, but she didn't utter a sound through the whole procedure. She even managed a weak smile to Syaoran and Al who stood by her side, unable to do anything for her except keep silent vigil.

As he watched, Al couldn't help but be reminded of listening to Ed choke back screams of agony while his automail was attached to the stumps of his arm and leg. Of course, pulling out individual nerves and attaching them to automail was on a whole different level of pain from what Sakura was experiencing, but the connection was still there.

_Nii-san said Sakura-san was liable to faint at the first sign of trouble,_ Al thought, remembering Ed's discouraging words about his first impressions of the girl. _But if he would only come see her grit and bear this, he'd change his opinion of her. She doesn't look it, but she has a very strong will. She'd probably make a good alchemist._

"We're just about done. But this is a messy suture, dear," Mrs. Halling said. "And the cut was very deep. It's just a matter of time before this wound gets infected. For proper medical treatment, you need to get to the nearest town that connects to a train line as soon as possible."

"That would be Reole," Al replied instantly. "It's about two days out."

"We could make it in a day if we don't stop," Syaoran said.

"I can carry her," Al offered. "I don't get tired. Ever."

"That's very kind, Alphonse-kun," Fay said. "But I'm sure everyone will help. That is, if everyone is willing to come."

Fay glanced over several yards away where Ed, Kurogane, and Halling were keeping watch over Yoki, who was bound to a chair. The three looked like tigers ready to pounce on the man if he so much as moved a muscle.

"Yoki's still completely out of it," Al commented. "And Nii-san definitely won't want to leave until he's gotten some answers."

"Kuro-rin certainly looks excited about the interrogation as well. He'll be grumpier than usual if we don't indulge him," Fay added, cracking a grin. He stood up and put his arms on his hips. "But Sakura-chan shouldn't move for at least an hour anyway to give those stitches a chance to help clot the wound. In the meantime, I think I'll go see if we can't speed along this interrogation process."

Fay gave Sakura a pat on the arm and an encouraging grin, then moved off toward the lake with a bucket in his hand.

"I really hate to leave those stitches exposed to sand, but there's nothing further we can do about it," Mrs. Halling sighed, standing up. She wiped some sweat from her brow. "For now, stay quiet and keep the leg elevated. I'll come back to check on you in a few minutes."

"Thank you so much," Sakura said to the woman. "I don't know what I can do to repay you."

"Well, you're not out of the woods yet, dear," Mrs. Halling said, her expression grave. "Please get to Reole as soon as you can. Your life and limb depend on it."

Sakura nodded. Syaoran and Al offered their thanks as well and then Mrs. Halling walked over to the spot where her son was sitting by the fire, staring off to where Yoki sat bound and unconscious. When the woman was gone, Mokona hopped down from Syaoran's shoulder to Sakura's.

"Does it hurt real bad, Sakura?" Mokona asked, eyeing Sakura's leg.

"It stings, but I'll be okay," Sakura said, reaching up to pet Mokona. "I'm just feeling a little lightheaded."

"That must be from all the blood loss. We'll get you to Reole very soon, Sakura-san," Al said. "It's a fairly big city. I'm sure someone there can help you."

"Have you been to Reole?" Sakura asked.

Al nodded. "Nii-san had one of his first official missions there a few months ago. Actually, it'll be nice to visit and see how everyone is doing after… Well, we kind of made a mess there."

"Oh, that doesn't sound good," Sakura said. "Was the mission a success at least?"

"Um, well…" Al paused to reflect on all the events that happened in Reole. "No, I guess not. Our objective was to find and secure an alchemic item called the Philosopher's Stone. But what they claimed to be the real thing turned out to be a fake."

"The Philosopher's Stone?" Syaoran said, putting his hand under his chin. "I've heard of it, actually. A few other worlds we've been to have legends in their archives about a stone that can make the bearer immortal. It's interesting a concept like that appears here too."

"In alchemy, it's said that the stone can overcome the Law of Equivalent Exchange. It's an amplifier like the feather in that regard," Al explained. "But, as Nii-san mentioned before, we found out that the stone is bloodied. Besides being a very difficult and volatile transmutation, the creation of the Philospher's Stone involves hundreds, maybe even thousands of human lives. We abandoned all our research and gave up looking for the stone when we discovered that. But we had hope again when we heard about the feather. We thought maybe _this_ time we might be able to…"

Al trailed off and began to fidget. There were a few moments of silence as the weight of his words set in.

"Alphonse-san—" Sakura began, her voice unsteady.

"I-I think I'll go see what Nii-san is up to," Al interrupted. "I'll tell him that you need to get to Reole as soon as possible. I'll go now, but I'll be back. Um, feel better Sakura-san."

He moved away from the two of them quickly, the sound of his clanking armor fading into the night. Once he was out of earshot, Sakura put her hand over her mouth and turned to Syaoran.

"They want to use the feather to get their bodies back to normal," Sakura whispered into her hand. "I don't know why I never realized it until now. I suppose I thought something like that couldn't be reversed."

"Obviously normal alchemy can't get their bodies back or they would've done it already," Syaoran said. "They must need a powerful alchemic amplifier to perform human transmutation."

"What do we do?" Sakura said, her stomach twisting into knots. "The feather is dangerous to people's emotions here. But what if it's the only way Alphonse-san and Elric-san can become whole again? I… I don't know if I want to deny them the chance. I don't even know if I should decide that kind of thing for them, whether it is my power they use or not."

"Remember that we don't even know how they lost their bodies in the first place. Maybe what happened to them is just punishment," Syaoran said. "After all, the Law of Equivalent Exchange sounds like it only takes what is fair. We made sacrifices to come here and they made sacrifices doing forbidden alchemy."

"Yup," Mokona piped in. "Yuuko takes sacrifices just like the Gate. You get what you pay for and you pay for what you get."

"But what we gave up is nothing compared to a physical sacrifice like a leg, an arm, or an entire body," Sakura said. "Alphonse-san and Elric-san are not bad people, Syaoran-kun. I can tell. Maybe they just made a mistake. And I don't know if they should be denied the chance for a normal life because they made a mistake, do you?"

"I'm not sure. But before we're faced with that decision, we have to find the feather again," Syaoran said. He nodded to Sakura's leg, which looked bruised and mangled even in the firelight. "And right now we have something slightly more important to worry about. You need to concentrate on getting better, Princess."

"Sakura," Sakura said firmly.

There was a beat of silence from Syaoran. "What?"

"During the battle, you called me by my name," Sakura said, looking down at her hands. "And, well, after I was done being terrified… I was happy."

Sakura lifted her head to look into Syaoran's eyes. "I was wondering if from now on you could drop the formalities and just call me Sakura. We are a long way from Clow, you know. These days I don't feel very Princess-like."

"I wasn't really thinking when I said that," Syaoran said, feeling sweat pooling on his forehead and heat rising to his face. "I don't think it's right that I call royalty by name. You don't have all your memories back yet. Once you do, I'm sure you'll start to feel offended when I drop your title."

Sakura shook her head vigorously. "My memories may be fuzzy, but I remember enough to know that I was uncomfortable being given royal treatment. When you called my name, I… Well, it just felt _good_. And after all this ugliness with the feather, I need to feel good more often."

Syaoran didn't answer for a few long moments. He knew things about Sakura's memories that she didn't—and never would. What if he called her by her name during a crisis and it triggered a flood of memories that she didn't have? The kindest thing he could do for her was stay as emotionally distant as possible, even if she perceived it as rejection. Even if it killed Syaoran a little inside.

His right eye began to throb as he said: "Princess, I can't—"

"Huh?" Mokona interrupted, ears twitching. Then the little white puff yelled: "Incoming transmission from Yuuko!"

Lighting up, the jewel on Mokona's forehead projected an image of the slender, elegant woman into the empty air before them. Her jet-black hair was done up with sparkling dark blue butterfly pins and she was wearing a cream and yellow kimono embroidered with sky blue blossoms. She sat at a table with a cup of steaming tea to one side and an ornate glass vial in a cast-iron holder in front of her.

"Yuuko! What's up?" Mokona chirped. "It's been ages!"

"Indeed. You sound well, Mokona," Yuuko said, smiling softly. She looked down at Sakura's mangled leg, but her expression didn't waver. "Ah, Sakura-chan. Seems you've been busy."

"We were in a fight," Sakura blushed sheepishly. "But it looks like I'll be okay."

"I don't doubt it," Yuuko said. She turned her gaze to Syaoran. "And Syaoran-kun. Always a pleasure."

"Hello Yuuko-san. I can't remember the last time you contacted us," Syaoran said. "Is there anything wrong?"

Yuuko smirked. "Not to worry, Syaoran-kun. Now that I've received all your White Day gifts, I have nothing I need of you four. I've contacted you because it seems there is one among your number that I simply must meet."

She picked up the vial from its holder and held it between her two index fingers, smiling mischievously.

"I do believe that this person has a wish."

* * *

While Sakura was being treated for her injury, Kurogane had fished a relatively undamaged chair from the rubble of a house close to the caved-in mine. Using strips of salvaged clothing, Ed, Halling, and Kurogane bound an unconscious Yoki to the chair. Kurogane was dubious about a cloth rope's ability to hold someone prisoner, but Ed assured him that they could tie up Yoki with toilet paper and it would make little difference.

They had just barely finished securing Yoki to the chair when he sprung awake as if from a nightmare. He gasped and looked around wildly for a few moments before his body went completely slack like a marionette cut from its strings. He could've been unconscious except for the fact that his eyes were wide open and he had begun spouting gibberish nonstop:

"…sense is a messenger in protein period antisense is opposite two base pairs as prokaryotes combined eukaryotes regulate gene expression fakes created by acid analogue mutation next three point one four one five nine two six five…"

He kept on speaking even as he breathed in. The effect was eerie, but the three onlookers' fascination had quickly dissolved into frustration when Yoki would not respond to any outside stimuli. The three tried yelling, prodding, poking, and shaking to snap the man out of it, but nothing seemed to work. At one point, Halling had pinched Yoki's nose closed and forced his mouth shut, but even that didn't stop him from babbling until his face turned blue and he almost passed out. When Halling let go, Yoki simply continued his diatribe.

"Well, he ain't faking it," Kurogane said, arms folded over his chest.

"This better not be permanent," Ed growled. He was sitting on a rock with his head in his hands and elbows on his knees. "If it is, he'll die from starvation. We can't feed him if he won't stop talking."

"If he dies, I swear I will climb into hell and drag him back here," Halling grunted. "And the Devil'll let me when he hears what I've got planned for the little murdering bastard."

A clanking sound behind the group signified that Al had joined the watch. He moved to stand beside the spot where Ed was sitting on his rock.

"He's awake!" Al said, surprised. He paused to listen for a moment. "What's wrong with him? Why is he saying random numbers?"

"…nine zero zero nine zero one nine two one one six nine seven one seven three seven two seven eight four seven six eight four seven two six eight six zero eight…"

"I think he's rattling off digits of pi," Ed replied, boredom in his voice. "Must be several hundred in already."

"You mean pi as in the irrational number that's the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of any circle?" Al said. "But Yoki didn't know anything about math except when it came to counting money. He certainly didn't know hundreds of digits of pi. I don't think even the greatest mathematicians in Central know pi to a hundred digits."

Ed shrugged. "You should've heard him before. He was talking about chemistry… I think. It was all really complicated."

"It's the ravings of a mad man," Halling said. "You can't take any stock in it."

"He was coherent enough back inside the dome. I mean, he was still pretty crazy, but at least he was responsive," Ed said. "Then Mr. Fantastic bashed his skull in."

"And saved your life, brat," Kurogane countered.

"So maybe all this ranting is the result of head trauma and he'll eventually come out of it," Ed continued, ignoring Kurogane. "We just have to wait."

"But we can't wait, Nii-san," Al said, urgency straining his voice. "Mrs. Halling stitched up Sakura-san's cut, but her wound's almost sure to get infected. We need to get her to Reole as soon as possible. She could lose her leg if we don't get her proper treatment."

"Great. Just great," Ed sighed. "Well, you go with her to Reole. I'm not going anywhere until I know for sure that Yoki isn't improving."

"Nii-san, the safety of your charges is your responsibility," Al said. "It's in your mission statement. We can't split up."

"But it'll take days to get to Reole," Ed growled through gritted teeth. "We can't drag two invalids with us through the desert all that way."

"Oh, that won't be necessary," said a voice from behind them.

"Crap," Kurogane cursed, not even bothering to face the new arrival. "It's _her._"

Ed, Al, and Halling turned around to see the image of Yuuko projected into the air before them. Behind the image, Syaoran stood holding Mokona, looking sheepish. Halling gasped a little at the strange sight, but Ed and Al had no reaction.

"I feel like I should be shocked by this," Ed said dully, not even bothering to stand up from his seat on the rock. "But I'm just not."

Al reached up and passed a hand through the projection. "Is this a recording of some kind?"

"I assure you that we're communicating in real time," Yuuko replied, causing Al to take a step backward. "My name is Yuuko, better known to some as the Witch of Dimensions. Surely my reputation precedes me."

She glanced over to Kurogane who rolled his eyes and grumbled some incoherent curses, his back still to her.

"Yeah, I've heard of you," Ed said, his expression darkening with morbid fascination. "You're the lady who created that talking chimera and can somehow open the Gate at will."

"You are mistaken on both fronts," Yuuko said. She turned her gaze to Yoki who was still jabbering incoherently. "That man has a wish. I am here to grant it."

"You grant wishes?" Al asked. "Like a genie?"

"Something like that," Yuuko said. "Only genies are bound to their owners. I am a bound to the wish."

Ed cocked an eyebrow. "How would you know if Yoki has a wish or not? You've never even met him."

"You are very quick with your assumptions," Yuuko smirked. "First of all, everyone has a wish, only some wishes are more desperate than others. And I have indeed briefly met this man at the Gate."

"Yoki's been to the Gate?" Ed said, eyes widening. He took a step forward, his heart beginning to pound. "No wonder he didn't need a transmutation circle! Is that why he's gone insane? Did he see the Truth inside?"

"No, he did not see what you so eloquently call 'truth' inside the Gate," Yuuko replied. "There is nothing inside the Gate. In fact, there is no such thing as the inside of the Gate."

"Who the hell do you think you are, lady?" Ed fumed. "I've seen what's inside! The whole _world_ is in there! The Gate is the answer to every question in the universe."

"Again, you are mistaken," Yuuko said calmly, her face blank and expressionless. "Would you call a doorway a destination? Do you place a call to talk to telephone poles? Does the wind care about what sounds it brings to your ears? The Gate itself knows nothing except what of yours would make a suitable toll for its services."

"Are you saying that the Gate is like some kind of… directory?" Al said.

"Not at all," Yuuko said. She smiled. "But if you understood, we would have no need to be talking like this. To fully understand the nature of the Gate is to understand the nature of the universe. Most minds can't even come close to comprehension when they encounter the Gate in its raw form, as exemplified by the poor soul behind you."

"But I came away from the Gate unscathed," Ed said. "Okay, well, minus an arm and a leg. But my mind is fine."

"I thought I specifically said 'most minds,'" Yuuko grinned. "You must have a special one. What that says about your mind is debatable."

"I must've seen the Gate too," Al said the words slowly as delaying a response. "Only it seems my memory of it has been suppressed. Does… does that mean if I ever remember I'll end up like Yoki?"

"Perhaps," Yuuko said. "But seeing as how you two are brothers, hopefully a sturdy mind runs in the family."

Ed glared at Yuuko. "How did you know we are brothers? We don't exactly have the same features."

"I can see the blood that binds you," Yuuko said mysteriously. She shifted slightly in her seat in a way that made it clear the subject was being changed. "Now, would you like me to grant that man's wish and get the answers you seek or would you rather he remain a raving lunatic until the end of his days?"

"You can cure him?" Halling said, only just then getting his bearings.

"In a manner of speaking," Yuuko said. "His current mental state is due to the fact that his brain is overloaded with information. I will simply take his memories of the Gate. But, of course, I require compensation for my services."

"Damn it," Kurogane growled. "There she goes with her freaking demands."

"As Kurogane well knows, I cannot grant a wish without accepting a sacrifice in return," Yuuko said. "The Gate and I are in nearly the same business. Only I have a more humanistic approach to getting you what you wish."

She glanced at Ed and Al. "Unlike the Gate, I see you as more than simply a sum of your parts."

"So what do you want for removing Yoki's memory?" Syaoran asked. "It doesn't seem like he has anything with him."

"Naturally, I want his most precious possession," Yuuko said. "In this case, that would be the only thing he has left: his revenge."

"His _revenge_?" Ed choked on the word. "Removing a memory, okay, I can buy that. After all, a memory is located somewhere inside the brain. But how do you take away a feeling?"

"As a rule I try to stay out of people's hearts," Yuuko answered. "But here I don't have a choice, seeing as how the man has nothing else to give. And he is desperate enough. Of that I am certain."

"You're not answering my question at all," Ed grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

"I am not in the business of answering questions," Yuuko said, smirking. "Of course, you realize that because you will also benefit from this procedure, I will be taking something of yours as well."

"_What?_" Ed shouted. He stood up, throwing his arms to his sides and balling his fists. "But I don't want revenge on anyone!"

"Well, that's not true," Yuuko grinned knowingly. "But fortunately, you have much more to offer than Yoki does. Under normal circumstances, I would ask for your pocket watch or your mechanical arm—"

"No way!" Ed choked.

"—but since Yoki is giving up something so precious to him, I suppose I can accept something a bit less important to you," Yuuko said. "And that would be what is in your left pants pocket."

Ed, confusion evident on his face, reached into his pocket and pulled out the vial of untransmutable soil that he had planned on turning over to the military.

"This?" Ed said.

"Yes, that," Yuuko said. "Mokona, if you please."

"Roger!" Mokona said, taking in a deep breath to create a vacuum. The vial was plucked out of Ed's hand by the suction and disappeared into Mokona's mouth. The puff ball swallowed it with a popping noise and the vial appeared on the table with Yuuko in short order.

"Can alchemy do that?" Halling whispered to Al.

Al shook his armored head, mystified.

"Hey!" Ed cried out, stomping a few feet forward to shake an angry fist at Mokona. "I never agreed to let you have that!"

"You would have eventually accepted the terms," Yuuko said, lifting the vial up to inspect it. "Your curiosity for what the man has to say outweighs your desire for this object."

"Fine. Take it then," Ed said, pulling his arms back over his chest and looking sullen. "I'll just get another sample before we leave."

"You'll find that the feather's effect wears off after a certain period of time," Yuuko said, placing the vial back on the table. "You were smart to seal the container with an alchemic bond that halts isotopic decay. I now have the only proof that the feather exists in your world, besides the feather itself."

"Nii-san, without the soil sample, your report is going to be insubstantial," Al said, fidgeting. "No one in their right mind would believe all this without proof."

"Well, I can't do very much about that now, can I?" Ed's glare on the woman deepened. "So what about taking crap from everyone else? Halling still hasn't paid."

"Hey!" Halling said. "Why'd you have to bring _that_ up?"

"Oh? But he has indeed paid in advance with the destruction of his home," Yuuko said. "As for Syaoran-kun and everyone else, they have no stake in what Yoki knows. So their payment is null."

"About freaking time we come out without losing something," Kurogane said.

"Syaoran-kun, if you would, place Mokona in close proximity to the client," Yuuko said.

Syaoran took a few steps forward to bring Mokona about a foot away from where Yoki sat, still babbling away numbers. After a brief discussion about placement, Yuuko gave the okay to begin. Mokona's mouth opened wide and a glowing, multi-colored rune appeared on Yoki's chest. As the onlookers watched, an object similar in size and shape to the feather only pitch black and frayed at the edges appeared out of the rune. It was in sight for just seconds before Mokona swallowed it and sent it to Yuuko.

The moment the object left Yoki's body, the man slowly shut his mouth and his eyes as if he were a robot powering down, then tossed his head back and began to snore.

"He fell asleep!" Al said, his voice tinged with amusement.

"That's a normal reaction to memory tampering as the mind resets itself. You may wake him at any time," Yuuko said. She turned her attention to the extracted object. "I'm surprised that there's only one; that man's mind wasn't able to hold much information at all. Now, with any luck, my payment should have been taken with the extraction."

She held the object, tip-down, over the big glass vial in its holder on the table. A golden liquid began to seep from the feather-like thing, dipping down in a steady stream to fill the vial before trickling to a stop. Yuuko pushed a stopper into the vial and the golden liquid faded to a stone grey, then darkened to deep burgundy with the consistency of dried blood.

Yuuko smirked. "This tells me his revenge story. It seems he was cheated out of a substantial amount of money and, my, my, certainly wanted physical harm to befall those who wronged him."

Ed scoffed. "Nobody wronged Yoki before he wronged the people of this town ten times over. He only got what was coming to him."

"I would advise against assuming the role of cosmic watchdog," Yuuko said. "The universe usually does just fine on its own without human meddling."

"The universe only does what is good for itself," Ed said hotly. "Justice is way down on its priority list."

"Indeed, justice is a human concept, not a cosmic one," Yuuko said. "But keep in mind that most human concepts were fabricated only to deal with the problems caused by some other human concept."

"Um, excuse me, but are you saying that the universe would be better off without us?" Al asked.

"Well, only if you think that the universe is better off when it's incredibly boring and predictable," Yuuko said, smiling. "My theory is that the universe got sick of being bored a long time ago and then, suddenly, along came the humans."

Out of sight in the projection, there was a crashing noise as if an entire shelf of pots and pans had fallen to the ground. Over all the racket, a male voice screamed in indignation.

"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU TWO ABOUT PLAYING IN THE KITCHEN?" the male voice roared. "You just ruined dinner! And I spend hours cutting up all those vegetables!"

Two small, girlish voices piped simultaneously: "Hehe! Sorry!"

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" the male voice shouted. "Get back here and bring a mop!"

There was an eruption of giggles and the hallow sound of scampering feet on a hardwood floor.

"See what I mean?" Yuuko said, her smile having never wavered in the slightest during all the commotion. "Life should never be boring. We owe that much to the universe."

The woman picked up her tea cup and yelled to the person out of sight: "Watanuki! I'm out of tea!"

The jewel on Mokona's head went dark and the projected image ended abruptly. The group stood in stunned silence, the only sound coming from Yoki's loud, watery snores.

* * *

A/N: Well, that's kind of a sudden ending, but I feel like I've come to a good stopping place with this chapter. Besides, my last chapter was really long and I find I don't get as many reviews when the chapters are over a certain length. Me, a review whore? No, of course not! ;)

Fun fact: I never intended to write this chapter. Popping a conversation with Yuuko in this story was totally improvised. However, the memory extracted from Yoki may just come in handy later on down the line. I'm not exactly sure how it'll all work out, but I trust that Yuuko has a plan. Yeah.

Please review!


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